Temper, Temper
by Very-Berry-Baby
Summary: A temperamental werewolf is in La Push and she's not happy about living with the Quileutes, not happy at all. Will things change? Or is imprinting not enough?
1. Obedience

Temper, Temper: Chapter One - Obedience 

"Get up". Felix's voice was full of mocking order. When the figure in his room remained seated, his arm lashed out, grabbing her roughly so she obeyed him. A bloom of auburn hair cascaded out with the force of the action, when it settled, her frown was revealed.

"Come on Flower, your presence is required in the big boy room" Felix traced the lines of her harsh, confused expression before holding her chin tightly. "Remember what I said about behaving Alex"

"Yeah, yeah I get it" Alex snarled out, ripping out of his grasp and walking down the marbled floor at a steady marching pace. For a moment Felix watched her, and then quickly stalked her side, watching her like a predatory lion.

Losing focus along the journey Alex pulled a hair clip out of her pocket and stuck it onto her lower lip, toying with the metal subconsciously. She wondered what could be important enough for her to be called into the main room; she only tried to escape three times last week.

When they came to the big doors, Felix took the chance to anger her by tearing the hair clip from her lip, striking a triumphant smile and pocketing the clip as his own. Alex said nothing, but another angry frown met Felix as he bent down to her 5ft 4 frame.

"Remember…behave"

His sentence was incomplete when Alex barrelled past the doors, ignored Felix and strode into the middle of the room, before pivoting her view from the group of strangers and instead to the Volturi.

"It seems, my dear, that you have visitors." Aro didn't even pause to let the statement sink in as he gushed on with his dramatic speech. Alex didn't care though, she struck her hands in her pocket and swung to and fro on the balls of her feet. "The Cullen's have had somewhat of an interest towards why it's a vampire residency at which you-"

"It is not by choice people" Alex interrupted the speech. Felix's angry expression, along with the other Volturi guard's outrage was a fuel for Alex, and her smirk made Jane burst out.

"How dare you-"

Caius was quick to join in, "We will not allow such disrespect in these Royal halls"

Aro was nodding his head with a calculating expression and he adding, in the usually slick voice "Felix…put the dog out"

That was when Alex's expression faltered, only briefly, Alice noticed though and she winced at what was bound to happen next. It was all well and good enjoying the brief moment of 'one upping' the Volturi when it came, but consequences always came. Over the silence, Felix's footsteps clacked towards her unmoving figure.

He leant down past her face and whispered quietly, "I'll give you a head start darling". The fact he whispered was irrelevant, the room of supernaturals all heard but the reaction of each group were completely antithesising. The Cullen's tensed forward, wishing to intervene but the Volturi were sitting back waiting for the show. Yet, Alex smiled.

If anyone were to blink, the flash transformation of the slender girl into a large silvery wolf would have been missed. The canine snarled before bounding past the doors, with Felix following a moment after. A score of snarls, growls and crashes echoed into the hall providing audio to the fight, where vision was missing. They soon died down though, until a pitiful whine ended it.

Felix was the first to walk back into the hall, the conflict having obviously boosted his spirit as a toyed with a smile at the victory. Meanwhile the wolf was at his heels, head bowed and hidden partly by the vampire's leg.

"As I was saying, the Cullen's have proposed to take charity on your pet-"

Alex, growled lowly only to have her scruff grabbed disciplinary by Felix, bringing her head closer to him.

"… Felix, since the obedience we enforce daily has seemingly been overlooked on this case" Aro delicately touched his fingertips together; Felix's expression was failing in attempting to mask the urge he felt to oppose Aro's words. A nod signalled his allowance to speak.

"Mater, forgive me but she is mine. She will learn. I don't doubt this for a second" Felix argued objectively.

"I admire you case brother." Aro cast his eyes to the floor, pondering this newest and unusual circumstance. Who knew the Cullen's would get involved in such a trivial matter of an unruly Volturi pet. "She was rather useful in the Hortensia coven mess…" He continued vacantly while the Cullen's cast nervous glances back and forth around their family and the wolf.

Finally, after a tension filled, silent few minute Aro sat up straight and cast a stony look towards the only person alive in the room, Alex.

"Two months Carlisle. She can leave with you for one month, and if _you _think that you can teach the dog some manners, the Volturi shall not intervene again. If she fails, _any _test we see fit to test this, Felix can take over completely and it'll be his decision what action to take"

Felix whispered very, very quietly in her ear, making her shiver. "I'll see you soon"

Alex's head was spinning; she was stood up now paws planted firmly on the ground straining away from Felix's grasp which was gradually taken away. It had been two months since she had been captive here and she could not wait to be free.

Carlisle nodded his head "We accept"

The wolf's eyes were darting all over the room, but she began to move, slowly at first, she brought her paw up, swivelling it around before lashing around and launching into a full speed run towards the back exit. Why would she wait for these strangers? Vampire strangers no less. No Alex was leaving all this behind her, going back home – she could easily outrun the Volturi in two months and even if she couldn't, what would be so hard about this 'test' that she couldn't past.

Her feet skidded on the marbled floors until the more working class end was insight, and those doors that led to freedom. When they opened, and the world outside visible to her, the forestry that framed the Volturi palace in sight, Alex sped up. She was covering so much distance now, and only when the soft greenery of the forest was surrounding her did she steady her speed.

It was like looking at the world through new eyes. Smells were more potent, stronger, each particle of scent telling her a story, the colours of the forest more beautifully arranged. Alex laughed inside her head, "Damn I love running" she thought, jumping over a huge fallen log and coming to a skidding halt as she landed. That smell; there was a vampire right infront of her, one from the coven of strangers. He was suddenly joined by more, and they were all smiling.

Alex backed up a little, realised she was boxed in and snarled ferociously. Her lipped raised over her teeth in warning, Alex couldn't believe were these blood suckers got off on. Rescue her one minute, try to take her away the next, "They'll be missing a few limbs if they do try" Alex stated internally.

"She doesn't want to come with us" Edward Cullen vocalised for the rest of his family, Alex's lip relaxed in her moment of confusion; how the hell is this leech saying what I'm thinking. It was another of those special vamps, the ones with the 'gifts'. Upon this thought, Alex growled again, again showing her teeth in warning.

"Look Wolfy doesn't want to play ball, let her go, she fancies her chances at outrunning them, then let her!" Emmett was the second to speak; Alex pricked her ears towards him,

"Yes, I agree with the muscly dude. Here, here, pip pip and off I go" Alex watched the one vampire who spoke first, willing him to communicate that thought. Edward gave a small side smile and mumbled his sentence, "You made a friend Emmett" Alex was beginning to walk off, the right, her back never turned on the vampires' but she had waited to long for freedom and wasting time here was not sit right at all.

"Follow her Emmett, maybe she'll listen to you" Carlisle ran a hand through his blonde hair, took his wife's hand and sped from the clearing instantly. Alex barked a single threating, angry bark and ran, full pelt in the opposite direction. This vampire wouldn't have a chance at keeping up with her at this speed, and if he decided to track her, by God she would make it damn near impossible.

For three days, Alex didn't see or smell a vampire and it was a welcome relief. She almost forgot what they smelt like, almost. She was close to home now, out of the country and gradually getting back to the place she loved most.

"You run fast wolfy" A deep voice came from above her. Emmett was in the trees, leaning on one of the high branches with a small smile on his face. Alex looked up him, stunned by his arrival and frustrated. She huffed out the air in her lungs, lowered her head and begrudgingly continued on her journey. Dirt collected around her paw prints; she was dragging her paws behind her, it was pointless trying to outrun him or lose him now that he was that close to her.

A tremor ran through the earth as Emmett landed heavily on the ground behind her and followed her closely, right by her side. Obviously they walked in silence, Emmett was no mind reader like Edward and Alex couldn't talk as a wolf, but every now and again Emmett would interject a random comment;

"Very green around here"

"There's seven of us, well eight if you count Bella I suppose-" He then described at great length what every member of the Cullen's looked like, any 'gifts' they had, how 'Eddy' always bet on the wrong baseball team and more pointless info at random intervals.

Alex put up with it, though; she growled every now and again if his monologue got tiresome and he respected that and cut the pieces shorter.

When Alex stopped, Emmett looked around. The woods they had just emerged from were lush and green, full of a ferns and bushes that cushioned the slim path they had kept to for the past hour. A small house was in the distance, a solitary residence. Not one for geography, Emmett found himself question what country they were in, he made to keep pace by the wolf at his side. Warning growls made him hesitate and when she snapped her teeth to enforce the order, Emmett remained in place and watched her hurriedly lope down the hill.

When the pale girl came back up the hill, clothed in simple grey joggers and a large varsity t-shirt Emmett prepared himself for the tirade that was coming, she had the same angry expression as in the Volturi.

"You're still here" Alex stated, pushing her red hair back with a shaky hand. Emmett was cut off when he made a move to speak, "You should know a couple of things. Number one-" Signifying the number she held up her finger, "I am not coming back. Number two, if you think I am coming back you are insane. Number three, I would like you to leave"

Emmett, smiled, they were in Wales. Now that she was talking, her accent came strongly through in her voice, even more when she was angry.

"I'm not going to leave" He paused, choosing the words he was using carefully as he saw her hands curl into tight fists. "You have two options here, no more and no less. You can stay here, the Volturi will come, you can say they won't be able to find you or whatever, they will. They'll put this test on you and they'll do anything to stop you from passing. Or you can come with me, and have people help you and actually have the chance to be free"

During his speech, Alex was at a loss for words, when you saw Emmett's appearance you did not expect him to be so eloquent. For a long time she was silent, pondering over his words continuously. The vampire was patient, sliding down the tree and settling comfortably on the floor as he waited for her decision.

She inhaled, very deeply, enjoying the fresh air filling her lungs and turned around, facing into the forest as she began to walk down the path again. Smiling Emmett followed her,

"Back to Forks we go"

In the distance, Alex stuck her finger up at him making his laughter deeply boom around the foliage again.


	2. Socks

Temper, Temper: Chapter Two - Socks

The journey back to Forks was simple enough, though Alex's choice to remain human so she and Emmett could talk impacted their speed only slightly. Now they were a couple of feet from the Cullen home, Alex wasn't nervous, just uneasy; the last coven of vampires she held residency with had issues with hospitality.

"Come on then Socks, family is a'waiting" Said Emmett, he had noticed her wolf had white fur that reached from her paws and up to her knees, contrasting with the silver grey fur that adorned the rest of her body, hence the name 'Socks'.

The other Cullen's were in the living room, Alex snorted when she thought of the irony and when Emmett looked at her questionably, she just laughed and hit his arm playfully before walking in.

"Ah, Alexandria! We were wondering how long it would be before Emmett's charm got the better of you" Carlisle stood up and walked over to her, gently holding shoulders. "We are glad you accepted our offer of help" A woman joined the conversation, undoubtedly Carlisle's wife Esme.

After listening to Emmett's constant monologue, Alex had no trouble putting names to faces and after an hour of introductions, things had settled down nicely and now she was watching a basketball game with Emmett.

Carlisle came into the room, quietly,

"Alex" She looked up slowly, eyes still fixed on the game. "Since we don't have a lot of time in regards to…well, you know what, so we thought we better start training for the test, tomorrow."

Alex pondered this with a frown, "What will we be doing?" her eyes darted around Carlisle's face, trying to work out his motives.

"I haven't thought about it yet, but it shall be concerned around your anger issues-"

"I don't I have anger issues" She interrupted,

"Yeah of course you don't" Emmett chuckled, adding his own input before Alex tackled him off the sofa, trying to pin his arms down, he flipped them around grappled to hold onto her arms. Carlisle took this as his cue to leave them to it.

"Say you give!" Emmett shouted,

"No you!" Alex countered.

They carried on until, Esme distracted them be yelling from the kitchen, "Not in the house!" the distraction gave Emmett enough time to pin back her arm, gently leaning on her so her face was held against the expensive carpet.

"AHA! I win!"

When he let her up, Alex knocked the remote he had retrieved back out of his hand,

"Seeing as I win, you owe me one"

"You cheated" She said in a monotone voice before grabbing the enormous bag of crisps Alice had bought her, settling on the sofa and continuously demolishing overflowing handfuls of crisps till the contents of the entire bag was gone in a salty minute.

The next morning, Alex awoke on the sofa. Not that the Cullen's hadn't offered her a room of her own, but this was a temporary thing, having her own room made it seem like her home. It took a while for them to even convince her to take the sofa, originally she had planned to sleep outside, 'wolfing it up' instead as she had put it. Esme would have none of that though.

Her limbs made an ugly crack as she stretched them, squinting her eyes shut as a ray of sunlight reflected through one of the giant windows. Emmett's booming voice made her wince and close her eyes completely,

"SOCKS! We are waiting for you!" Not waiting any longer, her tossed her effortlessly over his shoulder and with intentionally bouncy steps Alex was carried from her slumber.

When she was placed on the grassy floor, Alex said,

"No it's fine Emmett, I didn't have to pee or anything" She was being sarcastic but it was obviously wasted when he stared curiously at her, she dismissed him and turned her attention to the others. Only, Carlisle, Emmett, Edward and Alice were in the flat, forest surrounded clearing where the other vamps were Alex didn't know.

"We thought training would work best in the morning…when majority of people are cranky" Alice said with a smile, giving Alex a hug though she remained unresponsive to the gesture.

"So you're going to try and make me angry?" Her eyes questioned Carlisle, assuming he had arranged what would happen when she finally awoke.

"Yes but you have to try and remain calm, on the test, if you show any sign of struggle then that could mean a fail – We just don't know what to expect"

"Righty oh then, give it your best shot"

"Edward, you first" Edward walked towards her, his stride perfectly covering the distance between them in a split second. Then he just stayed there, his frame bent slightly to be at her eye level. It was like some comic hero had frozen him with a freeze ray. Then he smirked, breaking the deception.

"That's it you're just gonna' stand there?" Alex folded her arms and took a step back from him, he matched her step and a slight frown tugged at Alex's lips. 'Hmm slightly annoying, personal space equals zero'.

After they stayed there for another five minutes, Alex began to get bored, she was fidgeting with the strings of her joggers when Edward began to hum, he earned an incredulous look from her.

"Really? You're really gonna' hum?" Edward smiled again, that annoying 'I'm better than you' smile of his. It wasn't as easy to hold her temper in check as Alex originally thought, everything about that situation was starting to grate on her; his eyes kept going left to right, over and over, that buzzing of his stupid humming drilling her ears. She frowned, jaw set and her eyes unmoving on him.

"Stop it"

He continued.

Heat started to take over her and small tremors began to take over, most noticeably on her shoulders, which were moving the most. At this point Edward stepped back, and nodded with a smile, he had succeeded.

Alex held the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply before opening her eyes once more. Edward's expression had changed from one of triumph to one of anxiety, he quickly ran to Carlisle's side rudely speaking in hushed whispers.

"…we have to go and meet them; they'll wait until we do" The ending of Carlisle's response to whatever Edward said was all Alex could pick up, brushing it off she followed the group. It wasn't very far just a few feet ahead,

"What was wrong with where we were?" The number of w's in that sentence distracted Alex for a moment but Emmett didn't respond himself at first, merely shrugged his globed shoulders feigning indifferent when his expression showed the same anxiety that all the Cullen's were now wearing.

Suddenly, Alex smelt something familiar but different in a sense. Animals, six of them. It was hard for Alex to place what the animals were, all the differences of their scents were mingling together, confusing into one.

Then they appeared, wolves, just like her. They appeared, nine or ten metres in front of them uncovered by the bare landscape. Alex started to breathe quickly, unsettled by the strangers like her, it was all too much.

"What the fuck are they?" She snapped her face to Carlisle, then to every other Cullen with her, landing on Emmett's last.

"They live in La Push, and they're wolves"

Alex frowned deeply, looking at Alice with a vicious expression. She was not stupid.

"Yes I can see that thank you. Nobody mentioned anything about wolves. _You _didn't mention wolves" She repeated, pointing her finger at Emmett, blaming this nasty surprise on him.

"We have a treaty with them, I didn't think that they would care you're here, you're not a Quilette" Emmett countered, shooting Edward a look, urging him to explain the situation. He didn't get a chance though, Carlisle was walking smoothly over to the black one leading the pack, obviously the alpha Alex thought.

Ten minutes went by while Carlisle was explaining the situation they were in, but in the end he came back to their group with a sullen expression.

"Apparently, the treaty isn't very specific; it says our territory is here, while the wolves' territory is in La Push-"

"Big fucking dealing, I'm not a Quilt or whatever the hell they're called-" Red clouded over her vison, the tremors were back, raking through her body. Carlisle took over from Edward in explaining, using his silk voice in vain to try and calm her.

"That's the point, the treaty says 'wolves' not 'Quilettes'. He paused briefly and cast a look to Edward, "They say you can't stay here"

That did it. There was no way she could calm herself back down. Now she was a wolf again, and her favourite grey joggers were in tatters.

"I don't give a shit about some lunatic old people and a fucking piece of paper, tell them" She was angry now, but managed to form the sentence for Edward to convey.

"She isn't happy-"

"No shit!" Emmett interrupted, staring at the wolf next to him with an amused expression.

"She says that she won't go with them" Edward, made a face at Carlisle then look over at the wolves with a frown. He noticed they had gotton closer to Alex slightly, obviously wanting to ensure she didn't go into destruction mode. Unfortunately Alex noticed the wolves closest to her trying to come nearer to her, she snapped teeth at them jestingly. All the wolves, including Alex had their lips raised over their teeth in warning.

Emmett smiled a little, they obviously expected a calmer wolf when they saw Alex in her human form, 'Guess again' he thought.

"Sam says she either goes with them or the treaty is void" Edward stated, Alex looked up quickly and began to back off, walking backwards slowly. Emmett put his hand on Alex's back gently stopping her silent escape, "Hey Socks, remember that favour you owed me"

"Oh no, no way. That isn't fair" Alex shouted in her head, she was very serious when it came to keeping her word and had a low opinion of anyone that didn't. "Fine" Alex's growl had settled into a low rumble, Edward gave Carlisle a slight smile, thankful they didn't have to kick their newest family member out by their own tongue.

"Well done Socks"

Carlisle walked over to her, and knelt on the forest floor holding Alex's head so she kept eye contact with him,"We're still going to help you, just because you can't have residency here doesn't mean you can't visit…everyday" A sly smirk took over the eldest Cullen's face and despite the anger, which was still prominently in her head clouding her vision, it comforted her.

"Love you Socks" Emmett called out, knowing that she heard him.


	3. Quilt Tribe

Temper, Temper: Chapter Three – Quilt Tribe

Alex, made to move forward away from one group and into the other. It was like a game of pass the parcel, but the music never stopped and as the prize inside, she was never kept. The wolves tried to surround her; she picked up snarling again, trying to get them to give her some distance. Outnumbered she could do no more than voice her protest; they made a semicircle behind her ensuring she could not back track.

The downside of there being wolves here, meant that Alex had the alphas voice in her head. Seeing as she was currently wolf pack of one, and alphas were able to communicate mentally Alex could not shake this Sam Uley's voice from her skull. He introduced himself, explained the pack and further pointless details. Alex regretted letting that thought enter her head though, now he was continuing with how serious this was and blah blah blah.

The journey wasn't that far, and soon they came to a small house. It was quaint, with wooden structures and Alex could smell an open fire coming from the inside, it was nice, reminded her of Wales in a sense. As they stopped, one of the wolves following her nudged her with his nose. Alex lashed around, snarling like crazy at the shocked animal that quickly backed up, retreating from her gnashing jaws. Another wolf had come defensively in front of her, but Alex just huffed and lifted her front paws up, swivelling round to face the house again.

A woman came from the house, she was carrying a large t shirt and small pair of jean shorts in the crook of her elbow. Sam defensively stepped in front of Alex, 'Dramatic much' Alex thought lowering her head and falling to the floor, to lie down. The wolves behind her disbanded suddenly, but six boys replaced them after a moment.

"You nearly lost a limb back there Quil"

"Shut up, Embry"

The alpha had been replaced by another shirtless man, he took the clothes from the girl who he had encircled with a large, muscled arm and offered them to Alex, who gently took them and walked away from the group.

Back in her human form, Alex felt vulnerable. Behind the tree she had gotton changed, Alex put her hands on her belly trying to calm herself down by feeling each intake of deep breath she took.

With the now or never phrase deep in her head, Alex came from behind the tree and walked to the front of the house.

It wasn't an unfamiliar situation, having all eyes in the room on her, but as many times as she experienced it, she didn't appreciate it any more.

"Carlisle has informed me of many of the details of the situation Alexandria, but I would like to hear it from you if you don't" Sam explained, standing in front of the dining table seat she had been guided into.

"I was in one group of lunatic vampires, rescued by another, went home, got taken back to the second group of vampires, kidnapped by a group of wolves and I have a test in two months or I go back to the first group of lunatic vampires"

One member of the pack was making thoughtful noises, the noise filled the otherwise silent room and it was grating on Alec's nerves, "**I **think it's rather simple personally" She continued, shooting daggers at the boy, who just stared at her in return, thankfully though the noise ceased.

"Ok" Sam stretched out the word thoughtfully, "You obviously understand the treaty and so, you can stay here until the test is past and then it is obviously your choice at what you do-"

"That will be a first" Alex interrupted, smiling obnoxiously at the leader who chose to ignore his attitude and continued his sentence.

"Until then though, you can help pull your wait in the pack and take shifts with the rest of the pack. You'll need to accept a temporary position in the Quillette pack though, as a way of communicating with the others"

"Woah, woah, woah" Alex stood up and the wolves went into action, Emily as the only human was already the furthest away from her, but now the other wolves had more defensive body languages.

"I am not a Quilt-"

"Quilette" One of the younger wolves, Quil corrected in a small voice.

"I do not want to be a Quilt, you are not my alpha and if it were not for a stupid owed favour, I would not be here right now!" In anger Alex, harshly pushed the chair back under the table and headed for the door, it was blocked by a figure.

"Get. Out. Of. My Way" Through gritted teeth Alex was attempting to get the boy to move, she was in his personal space now, noses almost touching.

"Um…" Paul taunted, "No"

There they were again; tremors were pushing their way to the surface, making her shake uncontrollably.

"Don't let her phase in the house!" Sam shouted and reluctantly Paul let her pass, the red of anger clouding his own vision when she smiled triumphantly at him, strutting her way out the door. Paul phased quickly, jumping from the porch to make up the few steps that Alex had taken. When she saw he had phased she did the same, but Paul wasn't an alpha, she couldn't hear his thoughts. They were growling in unison, each wolf snapping their jaws together waiting for the other to make the first move. Alex, darted at him, snapping at his neck while he swatted her away with his paw. Paul was a lot bigger than Alex, but she had speed as her quality, she dodged his paw easily and as he was retracting it, she bit him. That's when Sam tried to intervene.

'It would be a lot easier if I could hear what he was thinking' Alex allowed that battle stratergy into her mind, but no sooner had she thought it than a new voice trickled into her subconscious.

'-stupid, angry leech lover'

'Oh no! I didn't mean that literally, I don't want to be part of the stupid Quilt tribe!'

"QUILLETTE!" Sam and Paul both bellowed in response.

Alex mournfully yelled out, she had unintentionally accepted to be a part of the tribe, taking all the consequences with it; she now had an alpha.

'This is horse shit' Alex commentated, collapsing to the floor with a huff and covering her wolfy face with both her paws as if that would shield her from the turmoil that had decided to work its way into her life.

When she eventually calmed down, Alex accepted more clothes from the woman with the scarred faced, came back into the house and apologised for the destruction of the others in a small voice. After proper introductions had been made, Alex settled deeply into the corner of the one sofa.

Just like at the Cullen's, Alex declined the offer of a bed at the Uley's and it took a lot more persuasion for the pack to accept that, she was fine with the sofa.

"What's it like in Wales?"

Sam and Emily had left the group to go grocery shopping, Jared to go and see Kim and Quil was on orders not to miss the usual traditional, Artera family lunch. Now it was just, Alex, Paul and Jacob in the house. Alex had a feeling Sam had something to do with the fact she wasn't left alone.

"Um, it's green, has lots of mountains and lots of sheep" Alex answered Jacob, but she was paying more attention to her own thoughts, pushing back the cuticles of her nails.

Jacob's lips curled into a smile, it was nice hearing her accent, nothing like he had heard before so each word she spoke was like a new language. In fact, it was nice in general to have somebody new to talk to, things easily went stale in La Push when you saw and spoke to the same people, day in, day out.

Paul was interested in what she had to say to, that was fairly obvious given the circumstances.

"Can you speak Welsh?"

"Ydw"

"Wicked" Jacob said, watching Paul as he moved from the sofa and strode into the kitchen opening one of the cabinets and catching a huge bag of crisps that fell from the amount of food pushing it forward.

Paul inspected the front of the bag before deeming it worthy, closing the cupboard and popping open the bag easily. Very gentlemanly like, Paul extended the bag towards her first, Alex filled her palm full of the snack and smiled at him gratefully.

Jacob rolled his eyes before snatching the bag for his own and starting a wrestling match between them, making Alex give a small smile as she watched, every now and then taking a crisp from the pile she had placed on her abdomen.

When she finished the savoury mountain she sat up, sending a cascade of cheesy dust to the floor and swaggered from the house leaving the two boys to it.

She left her clothes in a neat folded pile in the forest and sprang forward, phasing and running forward at a steady pace, enjoying the forest.

The beach she came to was secluded offset from the town and deciding it was safe, she loped down there plunging into the cold, salty water and walking out till the sandbank disappeared and she was swimming freely. She had, for the most part, forgotten her troubles, the icy water had drown them out that was until a howl resounded through the air and in a matter of minutes three wolves were looking at her from the forest edge.

'Get out of that water, right now Alex'

It was Paul's voice, but the other voices of Jake and Sam were still there, whispering in the background. Clearly she was under twenty four hour surveillance.

'Christ. I can tell living here is gonna' be so much fun'


	4. Act Like It

Temper, Temper: Chapter Four: Act Like It 

Waking up in the Uley home was like waking up in the kitchens of a marine ship. Pots and pans were strewn across the worktop, boiling and baking away while people's fingers were swatted away, prevented from digging greedily into the concoctions.

"I have no idea why you all flock round here first thing, breakfast is served worldwide in every household" Emily commented, the calm in her voice juxtaposing her hands, which were juggling jam's and pastries over to the table.

"You make good food" Jacob relied, before grabbing a seat for himself and eyeing the delicacies that were appearing in vast numbers.

"Yeah" Embry added, deciding on a croissant that he had just finished piling florescent raspberry jam on. "…and you make a lot of it" He added, spraying savoury crumbs down onto the oak table.

"Why is there so much noise?" The blanket Emily had given Alex muffled her voice as it lay over her, covering the entirety of her body.

"Aw did we wake Sleeping Beauty?" Quil had made an appearance, stood above the sofa before allowing his body to fall directly onto Alex, making her wriggle away from the disturbance, kicking him away with a powerful foot.

"I would rather you did not do that kid" Her hair was puffed up on the one side where she had been sleeping as a dead weight for the majority of the night. Quil puffed out his chest and held his chin out, "Kid? Kid? I am a supernatural mass of muscle!" As he raised his arms high, exaggerating his pose Alex's lips smiled mischievously. She whipped her hand put and grabbed his belly playfully, Quil's frame folded instantly as he reacted with girlish giggles.

The rest of the company laughed,

"Yeah Quil, real muscle mass" A new person had joined the breakfast club. Paul walked in with a hop in his step, barefoot and shirtless as all the others, he stared at Alex with a smirk that she responded to with a raised eyebrow.

"Anyways….bye bye" Throwing off the blanket completely Alex cracked her back and made a move to leave, she got level with Paul's shoulder before Sam's voice called her back sternly,

"Where do you think you're going?" He said, half amused at blatant attempt to leave their home and company.

"For a walk" Her brow furrowed together, dislike at being questioned clear in her expression and stance; her shoulders rounded a little and her palms twitched, ready to curl into fists.

"Breakfast first" Emily smiled warmly, gesturing to the mound of food that remained on the table, despite Embry, Jake and Quil's attempt to devour it all. Paul was holding back from his breakfast, eyes more interested on the current dialogue.

"And we're showing you the ropes today, fresh so you can start patrol shifts as soon as" Sam made his words cheerful before slinging an arm round Emily and picking up a football sized muffin for his own.

"Spectacular" Alex spat out with greeted teeth, marching back to the table, loudly scraping back a seat and throwing herself into it. Her fingers plucked a muffin from the pile and slowly she crumbled it up, throwing the small pieces into her mouth with a sour expression.

When everyone was ready, they were all wolves again, in the woods and running through everything with Alex.

'If you smell a leech trail what do you do?'

'I call everyone, taking on leeches is a dangerous business and I should not attempt to kill one without someone here as back up' Alex thought, repeating Sam word for word in the most counting, monotone voice she could muster, but she couldn't help a small memory come into her head.

Her teeth were clutched onto a leech while its arm was attempting to crush her ribs, she whined deeply but got a better hold on the vamp, holding its neck in her jaw before slowly tightening her grip.

The rest of the group were silent at that, one of them had anger leaking to his every forethought but Alex brushed it off, putting it down to her dismissive attitude to Sam's induction. The temporary bond between her and the pack wasn't as water tight as the true Quileute tribe members.

'Yes so we take it in turns, guard the borders, any vampires call for help, no being heroes – yeah got it, let's go' She garbled before they could question her. With no more 'urgent' pack business, Alex wanted to see Emmett, and the rest of the Cullen's maybe they had thought of some brilliant plan to get her out of La Push, passing the test easily and going back to Wales.

'You're going to see the _leeches_?' Paul's voice spat out inside her head, she couldn't hear the others and assumed they had all changed back.

Angry in an instant at the way her spoke about the Cullen's Alex's scruff bristled up as she growled lowly. Only she could say that. They had rescued her after all.

'What's it to you?' She argued back.

Paul's thoughts were putting off her usual clear cut attitude, all she could feel was his own anger, frustration and confusion.

'You're a wolf Alex, and part of this pack. Start acting like it' He managed to pull himself together and construct a reasonably calm sentence, this was a rarity. The bristles on his own neck were raised though, as was his lip curled over and growls spilling from his throat; his actions betrayed his words. Before conflict could erupt, Paul forced himself to walk away, at least he was thinking straight.

Huffing through her nose, Alex shook her head then bounded off to see the other supernatural residents of this state.

"Did you miss me?"

Alice greeted her first, embracing her in another hug before pulling the fabric of her shirt sleeve forward with her thumb and index finger. Alex ignored her disapproving look and moved onto Emmett, who ruffled her hair like an older brother,

"Emmett, I swear to God, one of these days I will punch you and I will kill you" She pulled her head from his grip and patted her hair back down, giving him a sarcastic look.

"I'd like to see you try" Arms came out to capture her but Alex easily side stepped them and hopped forward before settling to a walk, off to find Carlisle.

The good vamp doctor was in work apparently, 'No anger training today then I suppose' Alex thought with a smile, but Edward brought her back down to earth when he heard her thought. Another vampire was planning today's activities for Alex as they spoke.

"I wouldn't say that exactly. You can test out your limits during shopping, where Alice is currently planning on taking you after abducting you first"

Alex's eyes went wide as she was made aware of Alice's plans, slowly she stepped backwards making her escape.

"Honestly Edward, you make it sound so torturous" Alice side stepped around the glass table and went to Alex's side, tilting her head as she whispered to the wolf.

"You're here for two months, you can't have everyone's clothing left overs" Alice cast another disbelieving look over Alex's ill-fitting clothes. She didn't need much persuasion. They got to the garage when Alice dangled keys from her hand,

"Thought you might like to be in charge of the transportation for today" She hesitated and pulled them back remembering to add, "You can drive right?"

Alex took the keys quickly; her side smirk moving from one cheek to the other, "I'll let you decide on that one" The expensive car flashed its lights with a beep as she pressed the button. Alice looked at her with a worried smile before hitting the radio to calm her nerves after Alex responded with a playful grin.

"If you like to gamble I tell you I'm your man, going with the flow it's all a game to me!" Despite Alex's loud singing, Alice barely heard the tones of her voice; the radio was turned up loud enough to wake any afternoon nappers in a one mile radius. "The ace of spades! The ace of spades!" She slapped out the tune on the steering wheel, it was nice being in control for once.

The car ride proceeded this way until they got to the shopping centre, sharp turns, loud music, loud singing and fast driving.

It was a victory for Alex, and she was glad she took it there because the torture Alice put her through for over three hours was much, much worse. Alice analysed every outfit, comparing it with Alex's skin tone, height, hair colour etc. The result was good though, they left the place with enough outfits to span over the two months, and possibly more. Alex didn't even know half the stuff they had bought, her partner was an incredibly sneaky shopper; putting items in the bag when she was in the changing room or casting an eye over random store displays.

"Only take some clothes to La Push with you, leave the other stuff with me. That way you'll have two reasons to come and see us, no getting away now"

It was a fair plan; Alex didn't mention it would serve as a pretty decent excuse to end the crazy wolf inquisition when she wanted to cross the border. That she could definitely live without. Alex didn't bother to change back into a wolf as she walked back to the other supernatural habitat, carrying the bag of clothes she had would be harder, not to mention she'd have six other monologues to listen to.

Alex sensed the wolf before she saw it, recognising it as Paul she carried on walking,

"I know I smell like vamp before you make a comment"

The wolf's head shook slightly and Alex knew she had spoken aloud the thought he had in his head, jogging a little to catch up, Paul kept pace with her, giving her silent company on the walk back to the Uley's.

The inquisition Alex expected was not waiting, instead an enticing aroma was drifting around the area, emanating from the Uley home.

"Emily's put dinner on again" Paul stepped from the woods and walked over to her, shadowing her frame and looking down at her face with a small smile, "She's good to us". Alex raised her head in an acknowledging nod, humming her invisible thought and moving into the house slowly.

"Yeah…I know"


	5. Difference Nudist and Exhibitionist

Temper, Temper: Chapter Five: Difference Nudist and Exhibitionist

Sun, a surprising thing in La Push, streamed through the house and onto Alex's face. She was used to the chatter that occurred every morning from the Uley kitchen, unless Embry, Quil, Jared or Jacob chose to disturb her, it rarely woke her up. The sun however, being a new surprising development in the weather made her eyes peak open. When a thought crossed Alex's mind she jolted out of her 'bed', everyone in the house looked at her in shock, not only because of her sudden outburst but rather than pyjamas she was clothed in lace underwear. Sam, Jared and Emily were looking at her in shock, those that hadn't imprinted (Jacob, Quil and Embry) even paused inhaling their food to stare at her. Paul's expression wavered; he went from staring angrily at the others to appreciating the view in front of him.

"It's Saturday!" A sing song began in Alex's voice, "Saturday, oh yeah! No patrol. Zero patrol. Patrolling is off the to-do list. Strike it off because…it's Saturday!" Her arms struck out in the air as she jogged from the house, leaping off the porch landing on her hands and springing backwards into a series of somersaults. Dramatically, like a professional gymnast she held her hands above her head, raised her chin and closed her eyes. It was only Jacob, Paul, Quil and Embry were stood on the porch looking at her, everyone apart from Paul was clapping dramatically, he had his arms crossed giving her a narrow look.

"You gonna stand there all day? Everyone's going to think you're a nudist" Paul said, "Put some clothes on"

Not even Paul's disapproving words were putting Alex off her stride today, she ran back to the house, "No frowny faces today because today is…?"

"Saturday!" The other boys finished for her in loud voices, Alex laughed and tweaked Paul's cheek that was twitching inch by inch into a smirking smile.

"That's right" confirmed Alex. She was back in the kitchen, snatching the fresh crumpet from Jared's hand as he went to take a bite of it, "And this means, no patrol for me!"

"So, continuing Paul's question, are you planning on doing something with this Saturday or remain a nudist all day?" Sam was still giving her the 'parent' eyes, but his voice remained upbeat, feeding off the high energy Alex emanated around the room.

"Oh contrary Sammy, if I wanted to be a nudist, my vagina and boobs would be out, as it happens they are not meaning that, presently I am merely an exhibitionist" It was Emily's shocked expression that made Alex chuckle lightly as she continued her answer to Sam, "and I don't have any plans yet"

"No plans with the Cullen's? How's your training going?" Emily said, her own delicate hand choosing an apple from the bowl,

"…I still have over a month to work on it" Alex answered instead. In honesty training wasn't going well; if she managed to maintain a neutral mood during the times the Cullen's tested her patience by physically trying to anger her, and that was rare, she would almost always phase when they said something that hit a nerve with the wolf.

"I'm going to explore" Deciding on her plans, Alex nodded her head, confirming them to herself before eating a peach that was too tempting to resist. When Jacob offered to join her, Paul's fists tightened on the worktop he was leaning on. Saturday may have been Alex's day off patrol, but Paul was still on the shift, as were Quil and Embry, watching the borders. His grip got even tighter when Alex's happy mood influenced her positive response.

"Don't worry we won't go pillaging villages or grinding bones to make our bread" Jacob told Sam as they headed out the door; Alex laughed airily, enjoying it when the boys came out with these witty statements.

"Isn't that ogres? Or is it giants?" She inquired

"I don't know I was stereotyping the supernatural species" Jacob said, just audible to the others still in the Uley home, as they got further away their voices died away to silence.

"She'll come around sooner or later Paul" Emily smiled at the boy who still had shown no mercy to the counter in his grip, Paul stared at her hoping she was right.

"I have to tell her at some point, if she knows I have then she'll accept us, and me a lot more" Paul said, it was more comfort to himself than anything, he didn't really want to talk about this, not to anyone.

"Or maybe she'll come to her senses and imprint on me"

"Or me" Quil and Embry joked between them; they liked Alex, when she wasn't threatening to maim or mutilate people she was really funny and down to earth. When Paul, looked at them reflecting all his inner anger, pushed away from the worktop and stormed into the forest, the best friends had to admit the similarities between the new wolf and Paul. Their tempers, body language, attitudes, everything was very similar, like mirrors.

In the forest Paul couldn't help but worry about the younger wolves, they hadn't been shifters for as long as him and had to try exceptionally hard to hide private thoughts from the group, he was a little more skilled at it. He didn't want Alex to find out the secret everyone knew but her via wolf telepathy, how would he explain that one? No he had to plan it, pick the right moment.

As he paced the borders Paul let his mind wander to her; how would she react? Now there was a question to ask and, it one almost impossible to answer. Every time he thought he had analysed her to the point of knowing her like the back of his hand she would surprise him. Just like this morning.

Nobody really knew about Alex though, she was very closed off with her own thoughts and even when they weren't wolves, she didn't let on to her life before all this. No she didn't like sharing.

Alex was enjoying her free time; she and Jacob had travelled a fair distance. Though she couldn't say how far, her mind was focused on the beauty around her. The new scenery colours and smells were tantalizing, staying in one place for too long always made her hunger for a new journey.

She didn't know why but her thoughts strayed to the test all of a sudden, she didn't know what had suddenly triggered the unhappy thought but she wanted rid of them now. What if she didn't pass? All this freedom, despite it being limited for two months, could be snatched away forever. Rather than being in Wales, or even in La Push, she could be back in the Volturi's grasp and instead of practicing her anger management, she was running around like that nun in that musical about that woman who looks after those German kids.

'Sound of Music' She remembered, thinking the name of the movie with a triumphant rise in pitch.

'But you're not singing' Jake, trotted over to her, his eyes shining with her own reflection that looked back at her proudly.

'Well if you want me to, I can do a mean rendition of Waterloo' The wolf opposite her shook his head with disgust, and stepped back as though she had suggested something vile.

'Hmm, not a fan of Abba I see' Alex deduced this by his exaggerated response of repulsion, she sauntered forward to him mischievously, 'You know what you are?'

Jacob regretted asking her 'What?' because as soon as he had, his head was filled with her loud, singing, inner monologue.

'You are the dancing queen! Young and sweet, only seventeen!-'

'Please stop'

'Feel the beat from the tambourine-'

'Alex I'm serious'

'OH YEAAAH'

As she continued with the extended note, Jacob readied himself, as she sang he put out his paws, crouching low. When she opened her eyes to look at him, still singing, he leapt forward, tackling her to the ground and silencing her.

They wrestled for several minutes, enjoying the spare time and for once Alex was glad of another La Push Wolf's company, he had managed to take her mind off the dreary thoughts plaguing her mind and she was grateful for that.

When they finally did turn back and were nearing La Push, Alex thought of a clever idea to irritate Jacob. Being clever and irritating was an easy skill for Alex, she thought it was good fun.

'Hey Jake, what do banks give you?'

Puzzled Jacob answered, unsure of where this was going, 'Money'

He had answered right, but he regretted it when Alex gave him an impish look, he walked straight into it, again. Once again her voice sounded up, louder than ever,

'Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man's world' The last part of her sentence muddled together as she quickly evaded a pair of jaws that snapped at her ankles, Alex was running now, away from Jake and back to La Push. Her voice was still loudly shouting in Jacob's head though,

'Jake? Guess what I have in the night?' She knew he wouldn't reply so she sang on regardless, 'I have a dream! A song to sing!'

They were a lot closer to home now, frustration from the constant Abba lyrics being drilled into his brain, Jacob was running faster, trying to catch her and silence them. Still patrolling, Paul heard the two wolves, seeing as they were back in La Push the connection was back and he was present to their debate.

'What to kids call their mams' Jake?' Alex's words were broken up by her laughter, Jake was shouting at her to stop. 'Wow, Jake does not like Abba' Paul thought, pensively continuing hearing the conversation.

'Mamma Mia! Here I go again, my my, does it show again, just how much I missed you!' Alex suddenly crashed over the boundary and instantly stopped singing, and running instead she looked at the other silver wolf and tilted her head at him.

'Hey Paul' A set of paws pounding against the soil were coming closer to them, getting louder with each second she had paused, 'Bye Paul' Alex took off again, running away from Jacob and Paul who just shook his head and lay down again, resting his head on his paws and sighing deeply.

'I swear to God Alex, I'm going to kill you'

'If you change your mind I'm the first in li-' Paul was chuckling inside his head, Jacob had obviously caught up to her and from Jacob's shared thoughts, he saw Alex had pushed him off and was now pacing around him, snapping her jaws tauntingly while taking a small hop forward at intervals.

'I'd say she has you beat Jake' Paul was making his was to them now, he'd done his fair share of patrolling today and he knew that Emily would have a meal prepared for him as well as the others in a matter of minutes. She really did look after them well.

'Yes well you would say that' Jacob commented as Alex left the bond to shift and get dressed behind a nearby tree.

'Only because it's true'

'Yeah of course' sarcastically Jacob retaliated.


	6. Stupid Treaty

Temper, Temper: Chapter Six: Stupid Treaty

"Guess what today is?" Quil bellowed into the blanket, which subsequently groaned at the loud noise so early on in the day. The boy ripped back the blanket away from the figure underneath who was scowling despite her closed eyes. Alex's hand started to search for the lost warmth but Quil had strewn it across the room, out of her reach.

"It's Sunday! And we all know what that means! No patrolling for Quil. That's right zero patrolling for me!" Alex could hear the room's chuckles at Quil performing the same way she had yesterday when it was her day off. Alex just tucked her arms through the sleeves of her tee, shielding them against the chilly air and rolled away from him, whispering curses.

"Alex come on, you're on shift today" Sam barked, hearing the commotion from upstairs.

"No I'm sleeping, get Quil to do it, he's already up" Alex whipped back through a drawling sleep hungry voice,

"You've slept for twelve hours yesterday and Quil took yesterday's shift" Sam countered in a sterner tone, even moving to the stair banister to look at Alex still curled protectively into the sofa.

"I'm a foreign wolf with extreme anger issues, Quil you take the shift" Alex debated waving her hand dismissively in the air without looking.

"I don't care. Get up, _now_" Sam growled out slowly, the pane of threat in Sam's voice made Paul tense up, a barely audible low rumble, emitting from his chest.

Alex joined in to the duo of growls with her own, she raised her arms up, pushing down on the cushion surface to prop herself up before she gave Sam an angry glower and marched from the house,

"Fine" She gave Paul a look before leaving the home muttering a course of profanities aimed at the 'stupid, controlling, pig headed alpha'. Quil folded his arms thoughtfully, 'Somebodies woke up on the wrong side of the bed'.

Alex marched straight to the border, her anger making her tear her clothes and change into her wolf before she even got half way – It didn't matter, she was due a visit to the Cullen's' anyway, overdue. Jared was already on the East side of the border, he lost his train of thought as her monologue entered his head.

'I have a bad feeling about today Socks' commented Jared, he cast an eye upwards, staring at the grey which was starting to overpower the usual white mist skies, Alex looked at them too and agreed with Jared instantly.

'Something's not right Ja'

They patrolled for best part of the day but the sky was darkening now, settling into a dark cold evening. Bottled energy was coursing through Alex's veins, she trotted to and fro a small area she had settled herself into, paws barely touching the soil before leaving. Something was coming, call it animal instinct, call it intuition but it was coming and Alex was bursting for the trigger to be pulled and whatever it was that was preparing itself to be set off.

She suddenly smelt it; vampires.

Jared was the first to sound the alarm to the others and a deep long howl resounded through the air, breaking the silence that had smothered the air.

Alex recognised a few of the vampire smells, it was the Cullen's they were running down the line of the split in the ground which separated the lands of vampire and wolf. Another was running from them, a tall vampire with a mass of curled fiery hair.

They were after her. If they were after her, so were the wolves. Alex took off, pelting to left all the energy she was bottling cracked into her stride, whipping her legs into a lightning speed. The cracks and crevices in the stone surface made Alex, jump, landing on the rocks with a trembling force. Jared was behind her, the others had changed as well but Alex was in front paying them no attention. All her attention was on the chase.

Suddenly, as Jasper was gaining distance on the redhead she jumped landing ahead of Alex. The clean sight of the vampire pushed Alex forward, not to mention the burning scent of it burning in her throat.

On the other side of her, Emmett was in front of the leading wolf. When the rocks were more even and Alice had spurred him on, Emmett made the mistake of jumping, onto wolf territory. Alex was nearly there now, the vampire's coat was just in her grip if she could put in one more stride. It was then everything went wrong. Emmett didn't even get a chance to land on the Quileute land before another silver wolf jumped from one of the rocky ledges above Alex. The large wolfs paws, knocked Alex's back as he launched. Her paw was knocked from its fast pace, yelping out a whine, she fell in to the small canyon's river, hitting one of the stones on her way.

Emmett was in there as well, a few yards ahead of her facing off with another wolf, both were snarling viciously, threatening each other. When Alex saw who the wolf was, she couldn't help but allow the angry red cloud to fog her vision. Water splashed around her as she dashed over to the conflict.

Her lip was curled over her teeth, allowing more roaring snarls and armoured barks to spill out, directed straight at Paul. It was all silent apart from the snarls coming from all three in the belly of the earth's rock; Alex was in front of Emmett defending him against her own species. Paul was furious – How on earth could she be taking that leeches side over his?

'You just couldn't keep it together for two minutes could you? I could have had the leech, I could of caught her! Oh no, you had be the boss and uphold a stupid fucking treaty made by some ancient men, you don't even know. The same fucking treaty that's keeping me here! He doesn't even eat people you egotistical jackass!'

Alex was equally furious, she was panting heavily and her rant was building up, she had so much anger at her entire situation. Paul was speechless; he couldn't believe she was putting everything she'd been through down to him.

He curled his own lip over the sharp canines that occupied his mouth as her tirade continued,

"It's because of that treaty that I'm going to end up back with real vampires! The kind that drain innocent people every day, woman and children and men, all day every day. It's because of _that treaty _that I'm going to end up back in with the Volturi having chunks taken out of me, all day, every day.'

It all came out in that rant, all her pent up anger built up into a bullet, and Alex just let it out, pulling the trigger, aiming the gun straight at Paul.

'It. Is. Not. My. Fault'

His frustration had ebbed into a small ember, but Paul had his own anger issues and despite everything he had heard, the fault did not lie with him and even she could not blame it all on any one person. It wasn't fair.

Emmett put a hand on Alex's back. The gesture earned him to be the focus of Paul's anger, but none the less, it made Alex stop the rant, turn around and walk to the other side of the gorge.

'You're a wolf Alexandria, remember that' Paul said finally before returning up the side to his own territory. The words didn't make Alex stop walking, but she didn't rumble a final lowly growl in response.

At some point this will all end. That's the thought that Alex kept repeating in her head. It'll all be worth it in the end, I'm going to back in Wales and I'll never have to worry about the Volturi again.

Alice had sought out an outfit for Alex from the supply that was ready and waiting for her in a neat compartment of a spare room, she had put it there herself, obviously. It was even co-ordinated.

The outfit was simple and comfortable, Alice knew better than to dress Alex up in a ball gown, especially after all that had happened. Not to mention, mind reading vampire Edward had tipped the whole family off to the dispute that had occurred between Alex and Paul.

"You can stay here for a few days, that's visiting, you're not staying here so no rules broken" Carlisle put a steady hand on her shoulder, reassuring her that everything would turn out for the best in the eye.

Alex nodded her head as Carlisle continued to explain how their anger training would be better and she, herself, would get better at reining in her temper.

After a while a lot of the vampires had left Alex to her thoughts, she breathed deeply and opened her dewy eyes wide to dry. Emmett walked into the room and sat onto the sofa, harshly, making the cushions surrender to his weight.

"Wolves eh?" Emmett stated with a smile,

"Vamps eh?" Alex copied with a breathy laugh.

They sat like that for a while, enjoying each other's company. It was nice having a friend her, both were content at the platonic friendship that had developed between them. Alex would have said how rare it was for a wolf and a vampire to be friends. But, Edward and Bella's, human and vampire relationship – which was more than platonic, overshadowed any rare relationships out there.

"Fancy a game?" Emmett gestured to the xbox that was perfectly polished in place underneath the immaculate wide screen TV, with a neat stack of games to its side. Another breathy laugh came from Alex, it was amazing how he could cheer her up so easily, by simply being his own laid back cheeky character.

"You're on"


	7. Ambushed

Temper, Temper: Chapter Seven: Ambushed

"Ok, just breathe. Keep your thoughts on the most positive of memories and if you feel any anger take, long, deep breaths" Carlisle reassured her with a smile, when Alex nodded her understanding, Edward was given the nod to continue.

Alex's eyes darted from left to right as the vampire sped around her; Edward was darting around her, making it hard for her eyes to focus on his blurred shape. Every time he sped a few yards in one direction, he paused and shot her a teasing look before shooting off in another direction. He was getting closer to her now, circling her. Alex felt the urge to jut out her leg and make him trip over, he was that close, but she refrained and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. That made it worse though, the vampire smelt filled her lungs and started to pull at the instincts embedded into her wolf DNA, flaring up her anger, reflex to protect herself against a wolfs natural enemy.

'No' Alex told herself mentally, trying to keep her body under control, 'It's just Edward, just Edward' Memory allowed the images of the day the Cullen's retrieved her from her imprisonment with the Volturi, Edward was part of that group, the group that freed her.

The tremors in her body cooled and she opened her eyes, smiling when she saw Carlisle and Esme's proud grins looking at her. Alex shook out her limbs, glad she was getting better at the whole patience deal, she knew the test would be harder but progress is progress.

"Socks! You not even trying to kill him!" with an edge of disappointment in his voice Emmett gave her a congratulatory high five.

"Yup, that's the idea Em" said Alex, she smirked at Rosalie who had unfolded her arms and was lightly clapping, smiling at the wolf with a quirked eyebrow.

"Besides" She continued, "It's not like we wouldn't know the result if I _did _try to kill him" Looking up from her cuticles Alex laughed at Edward's expression before he turned from the group, presumably to visit the human. His eyebrows were raised while a small chuckle toyed over his lips.

Jasper and Emmett, called after him.

"Oh! She totally called you out Eddy"

The taunted him as he calmly walked away, hopping into the car that was parked a few yards behind them. Alex couldn't help but notice his calm demeanour, it wasn't in her nature to walk away from a fight. Even before she had first phased she was always rougher around the edges, in regards to temper, than most other people.

In the days that went by, three to be exact, Alex stayed at the Cullen's and practiced the limits of her patience and control continuously. It was worth it, she was getting better. They had to dodge an occasional paw when her concentration lapsed momentarily, but other than that, she was progressing.

It was Emmett that brought up the wolves first. Alex had done her best to forget about that small detail, an occasional howl from La Push would remind her of them but she ignored the call.

Alex's hand gripped the sandwich Esme had made her tightly and her brows knotted together when Emmett had entered the kitchen and said, "It's been three days Socks"

"Your point?" Half of the sandwich quickly disappeared as Alex took a huge bite of it, angrily chewing making the lettuce inside crunch loudly. Emmett folded his arms, she knew full well what the point was. They stared at each other, unmoving. After several minutes, when Alex had devoured one half of the sandwich, she sighed and raised her hands in defeat.

"Fine, I'm going" She said, exasperated.

Triumphantly Emmett nodded his head, "See you soon Al"

Alex didn't phase at first, she took smaller bites from the other half of her delicious sandwich and gradually walked through the forest. It was obvious she was in no rush to get there, her feet danced over fallen logs and hopped leisurely on and off rocks that jutted from the ground.

At the break in territories, Alex finally did phase and briskly jogged into La Push territory. Something made her pause though, a new curious smell was near and Alex couldn't place who it was. But she wasn't stupid, she knew enough to know it was a wolf, yet the identity of the wolf eluded her.

Suddenly the unseen animal jumped at her from the right, Alex tucked her hind legs under her and easily jogged out of the path where the attacker landed harshly on their tawny front paws. The animal was snarling at Alex and responding she went from defensive to offensive. Rumbling growls came from her chest as she crouched, taking dangerous, slow, deliberate steps to this strange wolf that had tried to attack her.

The wolf responded by crouching low itself, ebbing backwards to prepare for the eventual conflict. Dirt flew behind Alex has she launched her attack, zig zagging forward in a sprint. Her opponent wasn't ready and that gave her a chance to get a grip on the scruff of its neck. They grappled for a moment, but Alex never dropped the grip and soon she had the wolf pinned, the losers thoughts slowly trickled into her own. This was definitely a Quileute wolf.

Leah's unsheltered thoughts showed Alex that she had first phased when Alex had left, the day they chased the red head. Alex didn't bother holding onto her grip anymore, the fact she had pinned the wolf with absolutely no effort confirmed its thoughts.

When she let go Leah didn't move, so Alex decided that Sam or one of the other pups could deal with her. Looking after newbies wasn't her responsibility and the pack was lucky she held back her attack and their pack member was barely marked.

Speaking of the pack, the commotion had obviously alerted a few of them.

'What happened Alex?' Sam thought, Alex didn't bother mustering a sentence to answer him. Instead she unguarded her thoughts and replayed the ambush she had just experienced.

'Some ambush' Alex chuckled inside her head and made to quicken her pace, but a hard force suddenly clamped down on her, holding her skin tightly making a small yelp escape her.

Whirling around, Alex saw Leah. Now things were going to get interesting.

Heat poured into Alex's muscles and her thoughts became frozen. She lost the ability to think on anything but getting the wolf in front of her who she had, only moments ago, took it easy on because she was unaware of whom Alex was.

Jared made to warn Leah to try and run while the other pack members ran to try and diffuse the situation, 'Leah, you need to run'. She didn't have enough time before Alex had lashed around and was snapping her jaws dangerously. Leah made to run but Alex was at her side, Leah was knocked over and only managed to thinly evade a set of paws that smashed into where she had landed.

It wasn't enough though, Alex had gripped her neck again and pulled her to the forests floor, she restrained Leah's flailing legs by forcefully, pressing down her weight onto her shoulder and hind. Alex's jaw was around Leah's throat now, making her opponent whine.

Another wolf had joined them now. Paul was the first to reach the sparring pair, and as he came from the trees behind Alex he found his own grip on Alex, pulling her off Leah who had clearly lost the battle.

The two silver wolves watched as Leah ran away from them, most likely heading home or to the others in the pack. Ebbing away after Paul removed her from the fight, Alex's anger gave way to reason and she panted deeply, eager to have oxygen massage her tense muscles.

'That wasn't necessary' Paul scolded her, his wolf was larger than hers and she barely drew level with one of his strong shoulder blades, just like in real life, 'She didn't know who you were' he continued.

Alex looked up at him, staring at his eyes before dropping her own to the ground, muttering out, 'I know' and turning away from him. The two wolves walked back to Sam's place slowly, subconsciously Alex kept close to Paul's side, their fur touching all the journey home.

'I'm sorry about what I said to you' Alex broke the silence, despite being a hothead, after thinking about what happened, she knew she could not leave the argument between them, unresolved. 'It's not your fault'

'Thanks, in case you haven't noticed, you're not the only one with a bad temper around here'

'So when did that lunatic join the pack?' Alex inquired, referring to Leah. Paul smiled internally before explaining what happened after Alex had left with the Cullen's, she listened to him intently while he spoke.

'She wasn't the only newbie to phase when you left, her brother is in the pack as well now. Their father had a heart attack and they just lost control, now Leah and Seth are part of the pack'

Alex nodded and trotted forward a little, bored with the dragging pace which had built up over their conversation. 'Less patrolling at least'

'Yeah that's one positive, not sure having Leah in with the group is worth that though'

His comment didn't faze her, after Leah's actions twenty minutes ago, Alex did not care for the only other female wolf, not one bit.

'Though I can't imagine Sam will have you two working the same shift after what just happened' Paul added. No doubt Sam would be feeling the strain of the circumstance of having Leah in the pack as well, given the history.

'I think she needs to pull herself together' Alex stated, adding her comment onto Paul's internal dialogue. When they neared Sam's house, the lights were all on and the alpha was waiting at the porch, pacing back and forth the wood with a weary expression.

Paul gave a little surge of speed forward and phased, changing quickly and walking over to him. Alex was almost straight behind him though. Yet, as Sam opened his mouth to reprimand her, Paul silenced him with a small shake of his head and a hand on the alpha's shoulder.

The alpha exchanged a look with the temperamental wolf and waited for her to tail behind Paul, before he himself followed them into the cosy home.

When Emily offered her the plate of earlier made muffins before she could even sit down, Alex felt the unease wash off her, as if all that was unsaid in words, was made up with the simple offering and taking of a delicacy.


	8. Puppy In Training

Temper, Temper: Chapter Eight: Puppy In Training

"She's worse than me, I hate her, I want her to leave and should she talk to me again I am going to punch her in her God damn face" Alex was ranting profusely, pacing back and forth in her varsity top and jean shorts over the Uley's wooden floor.

"Give her time she's only just turned, it takes time to adjust" Emily cooed leaning on the counter and watching Alex with an amused expression.

"Time? Give her time? She's lucky I don't give her a black eye-"

"Say Paul, you know when cartoon characters get angry and turn red, with the steam coming out of their ears? Watching the stray is kinda like that" Leah's voice filled the room as she, Sam and Paul walked into the kitchen.

The Stray – That was the nickname Leah bestowed upon Alex when the others had informed her with every reason Alex had taken up housing in the La Push land. It had the ability to make Alex's blood turn to scorching volcanic lava, in fact Leah didn't even have to talk to make Alex's temper flare up, her face was provoking enough.

"I'll show you angry, motherfu-" Alex advanced to where they all entered the room, her eyebrows almost meeting in the middle while she frowned and pushed up the sleeves of her shirt.

Paul's arm barred her from moving closer to Leah, who was smirking, triumphant over having the ability to infuriate Alex so much, she scowled when Sam spoke though.

"Leah button it. Alex, calm down" Sam instructed, watching Alex warily as she pushed the arm barring her way down and walking back a little to rest her folded arms on the top of the dining chair. She waited for Sam to continue speaking, now that he was satisfied she wasn't going to go from teenage girl to 'wild animal'.

"You're taking over the next part of the shift anyway" He informed Alex who was agape at the change in scheduling for today,

"But it's Scruff's turn to patrol today!" Her arm flared out in the direction of Leah, making sure knew exactly who she was referring to. The alpha didn't care for her arguing though,

"She's getting the mark today Alex, Will couldn't fit it in any other time" Will was one of the tattooists' who did the Quileute tribe tattoos on the wolves, they all had one on the side of their arm.

A sickly sweet smile came over Alex's face when she realised it was pointless to make Sam change his mind, the sweetness dripped into her voice.

"Well, we can only hope the ink doesn't poison her" Hearing Alex's malicious comment Emily covered her eyes with one hand and sighed exasperated by the tension in the room. As Alex made to leave, the two female wolves never broke eye contact until their shoulders connected, Alex barging past, out of the door and jogging into the woods.

"Lovely girl you've picked there" Leah said to Paul, who just made a face at her comment.

"She is when you're not around" He defended her, straining his out to see if they could still make out her slender frame before the trees protected her image.

'JACOB!' Alex bellowed when she was in her wolf alias again, searching the forest for the person she was patrolling with today, she had assumed it would be Jacob. Another wolf appeared out of the trees instead though, a smaller wolf, with big paws. Could you really call him a wolf when the animal was clearly a puppy?

'Nope, it's Seth' The dusty brown wolf, scampered over to her boldly raising his head inhaling her scent so he could recognise it in the future.

'Oh' Alex sounded out, her eyes analysing her partner 'Leah's brother'

'Yup' The young wolf had a lot of energy, his paws hopped while he popped the end letter of his sentence. Plucky little thing Alex noticed, she gently jogged to the boundary with no real energy or urgency to get there. Seth was shadowing her as she progressed. When Alex got the boundary lazily she fell to the floor and yawned out a small wolfy bay which revealed all her white sharp canines in the little ray of sun that shone on her fur, warming her with comfort.

In her state of relaxation, she closed her eyes peacefully, not even opening them when Seth's voice entered her head disruptively. He was stood at her side, eyes darting from Alex to the left and right and back again.

'Shouldn't we be running laps or something?'

'If you want to run laps for five hours, I won't stop you kid'

Seth whined a little, this was his first patrolling session; he didn't want to spend it sleeping on a rock in the sun. 'But what if vampires come? We won't be ready'

Alex murmured out a groan of pleasure, enjoying the sun far too much, she rolled onto her side, allowing the rays to shine and warm her belly.

'If there's a vampire you'll smell it before it's too close' Alex answered him tiredly

'What does it smell like?' Seth finally sat down close to Alex, his front legs against her back supporting and preventing her from turning over anymore.

Comparisons filtered through Alex brain before she could decide on a final comparison to give her young partner.

'Like a pack of vegetables that have been lost in a cupboard for a month or three, with like a coppery blood ting to it' Alex thought it was a pretty good analogy as she saw Seth crinkle his nose in disgust at the imaginary scent. After a few minutes of waiting for another question to come Alex assumed Seth had calmed down and would allow her to rest for a while, but as soon settled again after rubbing her face into the grass, attempting to get comfy, a paw rested on her shoulder blade lightly.

'Come on, show me what we do Alex' Seth urged her, putting more pressure onto his paw trying to stir some energy in her.

By 'we', Alex assumed he meant wolves in general but brushed him off, 'Can't you get one of your Quilt people to do it?' she countered.

'You're as good as'

This sentence stirred her, Seth put his paw back on the floor as she stared at him curiously. Leah really was nothing like her brother, and Leah's brother was nothing like her. That was good for him, because if he had his sister's attitude, Alex would have given him a real taste of what wolves could do.

Seth's tail began to wag happily when Alex lugged herself to her feet and vigorously shook her fur out, flinging away loose grass that had clung to the strands.

'Come on then'

Patrolling was easy on this shift, Alex made sure the pair stayed reasonably close to the border in case, but she would be easily able to smell a vampire if it came anywhere near the boundary line, she enjoyed having Seth as company.

They were at the furthest point of their territory now, on the cliff edge staring out to the vast grey sea that was choppily hitting the rocks.

'Okay, use the surface to run. If there's any uneven bits use your legs and push ahead, the force will make it easy for you to pick up speed – Let's go' Alex started to jog lightly, making sure her partner was at her side before she accelerated, watching him keep pace with her. 'You're fast kid' Alex commented, making Seth raise his muzzle proudly.

'Now when you really need a quick burst of energy, most likely if you're chasing something, curl your legs right underneath your belly. When you've got a longer stride you'll be able to catch up to your target easier'

Seth watched Alex as she demonstrated what she had just explained, in a matter of seconds she had changed her stride, putting her legs right under her, almost touching her forelegs at the peak of the stretch. With a quicker pace, Alex had loped ahead but Seth was a quick learner and Alex only needed to slow down a whisper for him to perfectly keep pace with her, their paws hitting into the ground at the same exact moment.

Seth was panting deeply when they finally slowed down to a steadier pace, halting finally by a rock that jutted from the grass bank which overhung on the crack separating Cullen's from Quileute's.

'I love being a wolf' Seth commented when his breath was more under control and he was able to raise his head and look at Alex, his long dog tongue hanging from the side of his mouth.

'Me too, think you can manage the rock face Seth?' Alex asked, looking over the ledge to the quiet river that ran between the two territories and back to Seth for an answer. When he nodded she internally smiled, 'Good, I'm thirsty'

'You alright?' Alex asked, turning to look behind her slightly. Seth didn't look positive as his larger paws knocked away some of the loose stones, Alex laughed lightly to reassure him.

'Trust your instincts, you were born for this' Saying that, Alex turned back to her own path and nimbly jumped to a lower rock, whirled around and bounced from the surface into the river with a splash.

'Show-off!' Seth shouted down at her,

'Come on. Follow my path, you'll be fine, just go with it' Alex said in between her laughs, Seth really was good company. The dusty brown wolf did just that, and although he lacked the grace that Alex had grown into, he landed into the river without harm, though Seth did shower her face with cold water from the splash.

Alex didn't care, he was learning and she merely shook of the liquid before taking a drink.


	9. Cougars Indeed

Temper, Temper: Chapter Nine: Cougars Indeed

"Does La Push not have a lot of weddings?" Alex asked the boys she was patrolling with, Jared was sat at her side scratching his ear while Paul lolled on the grass leaning back on Alex's front paws. One of the local girls was getting married today and their after party was in one of the quaint pubs that was known for holding the reception to most La Push weddings.

For some reason, the boys were excited about the event and Alex couldn't work out why.

'Plus the owner is a little lax with the legal drinking age, if you know what I mean' Jared commented before shaking his head as he sneezed loudly.

Ah, so that was the reason. Of course, the legal age for drinking in America was twenty one, greater than Great Britain's legal age of eighteen.

Alex laughed happily, the thought of the boys drunk really would be a funny sight. Paul rolled over even more, Alex put a paw on his chest to steady him, seeing that her own front legs were the barrier stopping him from fully turning over.

'So are you two planning on breaking your own country's strict rules and regulations' Alex sarcastically asked them, smiling as Paul's inner laugh came out as a wolfy snigger, his belly making Alex's paw rise and fall choppily.

'Of course, I wouldn't dream of Jared not reliving his last drunken night out' Paul's comments made Jared groan deeply at the memory and dramatically fall to the floor, clutching his nose in both paws.

'He spent the last two hours of the night, using his own shoe as a phone to _call _Kim and ask her over and over again if she would marry him, then crying when she _didn't answer _and then listing a very long list of everything he loved about her' Paul told the story well, captivating Alex with the rising and falling pitch of his voice, for extra emphasis Paul mentally relived the moment.

In her head, through the telepath connection Alex saw Jared, the same Jared she saw most days since living in La Push, huddled over on a chair with a converse to his ear speaking into it with an emotion thick voice,

"Kim…_Kim, _I…I think we should get married. Are you listening?" Jared's voice suddenly crack and tears made his voice undistinguishable, and the laughter around the boy made it even more unintelligible, "Why'wu'yo'answer'm" he had sobbed.

Alex cracked up at the image, Jared was always the most composed out of the group and it was hysterical to see him behaving so oddly under the influence of alcohol.

Jared stood up suddenly, attempting to change the subject and stop the two wolves from splitting their sides altogether at his embarrassing memory.

'You're coming right? Gonna be drinking then Socks? I bet you're a hoot intoxicated'

All of them were stood up now, lazily walking back home under the evening red sky. Alex shook off Jared's sarcasm easily,

'Um, yeah I may go and I'm always a hoot, but yes if alcohol is available I shall be consuming it…I'm quite a lovable drunk now you mention it'

Jared found his moment of revenge, 'Well we all know one person who'll like that?' he looked at Paul sarcastically before getting a head start on the large silver wolf who chased after him, his temper alight under Jared's provocation.

Alex pondered the comment, it wasn't the first time people had made a connection between her and Paul and she was starting to wonder why. Mind you, 'He has seen me half naked' Alex thought to herself, remembering her exhibition on her one day off.

The memory had been relived by others as well, mainly the younger wolves Embry, Quil and Jacob had their thoughts on it, but that was obviously to be expected, they were teenagers. Only once had Paul lost guard on his thoughts for a moment, his mind visualising her in the black underwear she had on that day.

'Meh boys' Alex shook the thoughts off and raced ahead with a burst of energy; eager to catch up to the boys whom she assumed were busy settling their differences with a fight. It's just how the wolves behaved.

Alex didn't really want to dress up, but she could hardly show up in grey joggers and a black vest to a wedding reception could she.

Evidently, everyone in La Push was invited to celebrate with the bride and groom, any other way and Alex would have denied the offer. Obviously this couple wanted a big celebration, and with the prospect of alcohol, Alex would happily make up the numbers.

A dress was too much, so her outfit consisted of emerald green jean shorts with a black top that made the outfit a little more appropriate for the occasion; the sleeves were sheer, thin, black netting that ended in jewelled cuffs.

Apparently the vampire shopping guru had foreseen a random event like this popping up and even slipped plain back platform heels in her purchases.

Paul wasn't the only Quileute wolf captivated by Alex that night. As she walked from the Uley's house to a car that belonged to someone – though she had never seen the SUV before – Jacob, Quil, Seth, Embry and Paul himself dropped their gazes to the floor and slowly up again.

Appreciating her figure in perfect unison.

"Come on boys, your puddle of drool is a safety hazard" She stated when none of them made to get in the vehicle, Paul was the first though; he sat by Alex's side, ensuring no one else had the privilege.

Apparently they were early; they entered the pub to an empty dance floor and only one punter drinking a small glass of frothy beer in the corner.

The group got a table, and their booze before awkwardly sitting there taking simultaneous gulps of the liquor served to them. They continued this until more people arrived and by this time, they had consumed enough booze to become relaxed, and tipsy.

Despite there being a now full room, the bride and groom had already had their first dance and the dance floor was empty.

"Why is the dance floor empty Jacob? The dance floor shouldn't be _empty_ Quil" Alex, quickly gulped the rest of her glass contents and put the empty space down to the low tempo music and pudgy 'Dj' in the corner.

"What is she doing?" Jared questioned, making the rest of the group watch her every move intently, wondering what could happen next.

"Hello? Hello" Alex tapped the microphone harshly and pointed out to the crowd using the microphone as an extension of her arm. "Hey, now we are about to kick this wedding party up to an eleven!"

Seth had covered his eyes with a hand but opened a space between his fingers so he was able to peak at the scene perfectly sober, he couldn't get served.

"Can I get an amen?" Seth and the other all laughed, was she really pretending to be a pastor from the Southern states? Judging by her flailing arms and dramatic change in her voice, apparently so.

It was amazing how much Alex could affect a group of people with her attitude. It only took two songs on the karaoke to get the majority of the guests up, pirouetting around the room, which was the case with one of the more elderly guests.

"Ooh Baby do you know what that's worth! Ooh Heaven is a place on Earth, they say in Heaven, love comes first! We'll make Heaven a place on Earth!"

That was the current song Alex was belting down the microphone, but to a lot of people's surprise she was actually really good and the singing had sobered her for the most part. Like she had said before, Alex was an exhibitionist and didn't care what people thought of her.

When she took a small break from entertaining the vast crowd Alex had left he little stage to a round of applause which she humbly took before heading back over to her table. There were only two people left at the table, a reasonable sober Paul and Seth. Jacob was fist pumping in the face of a granny at the end of the bar, Jared was 'phoning' Kim again and Quil alongside Embry were trying to convince a waiter to make them a saucepan full of some random liqueur concoction.

"And what are you two doing? Spectating?" Alex questioned them, placing her hands on her hips and raising an inquiring eyebrow.

"I don't do dancing" Seth announced.

Alex frowned at that, "Oh don't you?" Her hand found the youngsters and she pulled him from the seat, "Come on handsome"

Seth was thankful to the luminous light which hid his blush well as she led him away. Alex turned back and nodded her head forward, "You too" she gestured at Paul who didn't even put up a fight. He raised his hands in surrender after drinking a final mouthful of beer and walked in front of her, being led into the sea of people with her hand on his back guiding him.

Alex laughed after dancing with them for several moments another lady 'cut in', her mature face grinning while she stole a dance with Alex's 'hidden treasure of a man', at least while her porky husband was fingering the mini pizzas at the buffet.

She laughed even harder when Seth shouted in her ear over the music,

"Paul always attracts the wannabe cougars"

'Good luck Paul' was Alex thought as she dramatically twirled Seth around before he did the same to her.


	10. Eye Of The Tiger

Temper, Temper: Chapter Ten: Eye Of The Tiger 

"Sam?" Alex cooed out, sidling up to the alpha's side deciding that after he had breakfast and had several kisses from his fiancé, now would be the best time to ask. It was important to catch Sam at the peak of his good mood so that the answer to her question would have the best chance of being a yes.

He looked down at her to see what it was the girl wanted, "Seeing as there are more than enough of us to cover patrol, and you wouldn't even know I was gone, can I go back to Wales?"

When Sam's eyes narrowed she garbled out a quick, "Only for a day, then straight back"

Again when Sam tried to open his mouth to answer Alex interrupted, "_And_" She stressed, "Know that I could of just left without running it past you first…just saying" Finally finishing her inquisition, Alex hopped up onto the counter to wait for Sam's answer.

"Just for one day?" She nodded, "Then straight back?" Alex nodded again, more vigorously this time at the chance of her visiting her homeland for another time.

"Okay then" Emily rubbed her soon to be husband's arm reassuringly. Before Alex could leap from the surface with glee, he paused her, "Take two of the boys with you though"

Although Sam trusted Alex, he didn't want her to lose focus of the test and her responsibilities during the two months she was staying with them. Alex wasn't stupid either; this was the best deal she was going to get from her Alpha.

"Yes!" The familiar surge of positive emanated from Alex as she leapt from the camera, dancing around the group of people that were in the Uley house with her. She wiggled her hips and shook her shoulders, shuffling her feet around the boys, even Leah was absent heightening her Alex's mood even more.

"I'm going back to Wales yeah! Going back to Wales woo! Gonna' see the sheep yeah! And the daffo-dils yeah!" Paul watched her, her happiness radiating through him and stretching his smile out before shaking into laugh.

"So who's gonna' go with Socks then?" Jared piped up, not wanting to leave Kim despite the short amount of time it would be for. Jacob, Quil, Seth, Embry and Paul all shot their hands in the air in perfect unison once more; Sam deduced the number of volunteers with one reason after another.

"Well Leah definitely isn't going" Sam laughed as Alex's face crumpled with disgust at the idea, "Quil, Embry, Jacob you're the most experienced after Paul, you're staying" The best friends expression both looked disheartened as they slowly removed their hands from the air.

"Seth, Paul you two can keep Alex in check"

Sam chose the two chaperones carefully, he knew as soon as Alex was back in Wales, if she wanted to stay the others would have a lot more trouble bringing her back rather than Paul or Seth. Paul, for obvious reasons and he was one of the stronger, larger wolves, and Seth because Alex had taken a shine to the newest and youngest pack member.

The three wolves had made the start of their journey faced paced, racing over the terrain covering a lot of distance in one swoop.

Now they had slowed to a gently trot and Paul was beginning to wish that Seth had been one of the wolves to stay behind. Alex and Seth bounced off each other, Paul joining in with the banter fully to start with, but now they had moved on to singing.

The pair had decided to soundtrack their journey. Paul's groans of complaint went unnoticed as the wolves tailing him amplified their voices mentally,

'Rising up! Back on my feet, did my time took my chances! Went the distance now I'm back on my feet' Alex, sped on a little, keeping to Paul's shoulder. Her muzzle lifted in the air proudly, giving him a wolf grin as and Seth continued, 'Just a man! And his will to survive!'

Seth's voice doubled in volume as he took over the chorus, earning silence from Alex as she let him have his moment.

'It's the eye of the tiger it's the thrill of the fight! Rising up to the challenge of our rivals!' When Seth realised he was singing alone, he gave a little chuckle while looking at the two and then sped quickly ahead.

As Alex chased him her voice piped up again,' And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, and he's watching us all in the eye...' When Paul drew level with her, she jutted to the left a little barging his shoulder, he side,

'Of the tiger' He finished, choosing to say it rather than sing it.

'Meh, it'll do' Alex commented, rubbing her nose into his fur a little before nudging him away from her teasing him and racing away, nudging Seth as she launched past him as well. The two boys collected themselves before giving chase,

'ALEX!' Both of them complained at being pushed aside, yelling at her figure which got further and further away.

When they got to Wales, it was cold and a light mist fog blanketed the green forest the wolves made their way through, dispersing the fog as they passed.

'What made you want to visit again?' Paul questioned, looking around him defensively, the close together tress made him nervous in a country he had never been before. He felt venerable.

'I needed to pay someone a visit' Alex said vaguely, keeping an eye around herself as well, checking for any threats. Suddenly she ran forward eager to be at her destination and out of the shaded, cold woods. Out of the shade, Alex and the others felt a lot better.

A large building was close on the other side, only surrounded by a handful of other smaller houses, spread widely in the small little valley. Alex changed behind a little hedge, and once she finished, Paul and Seth did the same.

The boys, followed Alex as she ran into what became clear was a stone yard, with two rows of stables embedded into the walls, paralleling on either side of them as they entered.

From one of the corner buildings, a woman led a large grey horse into the yard, its metal shoes clacking loudly on the stone. The woman couldn't have been older than thirty, but her face was weathered. No doubt from the hardship of her job which was emphasized by her wind whipped red cheeks, and mud smeared trousers. Never the less, her lips stretched into a wide smile when she saw Alex, who had run from the boys and flown over to her.

"Ahh, I was wondering when you would show up trouble. I expected you sooner" The tone in the woman's voice faded from friendly into a more business like tone, Alex was too busy caressing the horse to take much notice.

"Hey boy! Have you missed me?" She cooed, laughing merrily when the stallion brayed out loudly, making its leader duck from the noise, "…Yeah I know, I'm being held up" Alex added as an afterthought, but it was unclear who the comment was meant for.

When a tapping foot pulled her attention away from the animal Alex sighed exasperated, "The William's will take care of it for another month, that's all I need to repay, and they owe me a favour"

The woman seemed satisfied with that and handed Alex the rope before trooping away to another building, obviously to chase up the Williams. "Besides you can't say that having this beautiful boy here doesn't bring up business" She called after the woman, before leading the horse back over to Seth and Paul who had waited politely at the gate.

"Paul, Seth…This is Chief, or Prif if you want to be Welsh for the day"

Seth eagerly stroked the proud horse's muzzle, in awe of its stature. Chief seemed more interested in Paul though. His neck craned up, and blew out hot air while sniffing him, starting at his hair and down to Paul's chest.

The boys jumped backwards suddenly as the stallion started to paw at the floor angrily with its ears flat against his head. Chief started to pull away from Alex, but instead of panicking Alex easily held onto the rope and spoke to him softly.

When the horse calmed down she hushed him even more,

"I think he likes you" Alex commented, clicking her tongue and giving Chief's ears a scratch when he lowered his head into her chest.

"He kinda reminds me of you Al" Seth commented, comparing Alex's angry outburst with the animal behaviour of Chief.

The red halter freed Alex's horse, when she unhooked the buckle,

"Alex be careful!" Paul warned her, not wanting to intervene but couldn't help protectively cautioning Alex, worried in case she was too laid back with him.

"He's fine, nobody takes him out of the fields if I'm not here, he wants a bit of freedom" Alex stated, patting the horse's strong neck and walking over to the gate. Paul walked over with her and lifted the heavy gate open for her, not needing Seth who ran over to aid them. Both boys, stood back at Alex's side as Chief trotted over, but they were shocked when the animal paused at the gate, looking at Alex for permission. A delicate hand ran over the horse's head as Alex rewarded him,

"Rhedeg" She whispered delicately at him, stepping back as the tough animal flew away from the stable yard and into the green forest distance.

"That will really piss her off" Seth commented, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the one building the surly woman had fled into, Alex nodded her head with a smile, hugging herself with one arm as the other dangled at her side. "Yes, yes it will" Alex said, satisfied.

"So what's next on the agenda?" Paul asked her, taking the hand which was attached to the arm that kept at her side and leading her out of the way of the big wooden gate, closing it himself, locking in the woman.

"I don't know, I just wanted to sort that out really"

"Pub?" Seth piped up, making Alex clap her hands, lacing them together at the sound of that idea; she made her two forefinger point forward.

"Pub" Alex agreed.

"Pub" Paul confirmed.

"Further out though, no doubt Mrs Gaudy has phoned half the Valleys with her gossip of that _Alexandria Llewellyn returning after God knows how long, with __**two **__mysterious tan strangers" _Alex imitated the woman's voice dramatically, changing into a nasal, shallow tone.

"I can't deal with an interrogation"

Paul nodded, and they all left in a content silence.


	11. You Spoilt Everything

Temper, Temper: Chapter Eleven: You Spoilt Everything

It was early morning when the three companions arrived back in La Push, it took them longer to get home, seeing as they made a quick pit stop; sleeping lazily in a would be coveted pasture, that's grass had been heated in a short burst of intense sunlight.

It was good that they rested; Paul needed to clear his head. Plus it was nice allowing his thoughts free when Alex wasn't around to stumble upon the secret; She had run back to the Uley's to grab some breakfast.

He was getting to the point of no return now; the force of the imprint was pushing him forward. It insistently, bent and twisted his will, as much as Paul wanted to put it off, wanting Alex to accept him without feeling forced.

They were closer now, Alex had spent more time with the Quileute's and she was becoming less angry.

Now would surely be the best time to tell her, he needed Alex to understand exactly how much he cared for her and the lengths he would go to for her.

The major question though was how would she react?

Paul attempted to fill his head with positivity, Emily had told him, "Nobody could resist that level of devotion and love Paul".

She had told him that before they left for Wales, a few days before, on one of the days he was feeling particularly low. The comforting words had perked him up then, but now new thoughts demeaned them,

'Remember what you thought of imprinting before this?' Paul's own subconscious taunted him, replaying a small scene from his memories that drowned Emily's words out completely.

The boys were all patrolling, enjoying their usual comradely banter and poking fun at how completely besotted Jared was over Kim.

'Come on Ja, there must be one point when you look at someone else and think…daaaammmn' Paul dragged out childishly, bashing Jared's shoulder with subdued force.

'Nope, never. It's like Kim's in HD and everyone else is…grey' Jared was happy with his analogy, but truthfully no words could describe how imprinting on your perfect match felt, every day.

Jacob drawled out a sigh before directing the taunting to Paul,

'What about you Red?' Jacob used a nickname for Paul which connected to the older boys, anger control. 'How's it gonna' be when you lose your sight and have little misty cupids floating around your head?'

Paul thought about it, 'Their all for me Jake' he answered cockily, racing forward and snapping at Jared's love struck ankles appealing to Jared's wolf side, wanting a fight or a race, something to burn off some energy.

Lucky for him Jared was at his limit after being teased all day about his relationship, and he easily chased after a laughing Paul, raising his shackles and gnashing his teeth together. The talk of imprinting well and truly sentenced.

Shaking the memory off Paul took some quick deep breaths before taking a large step into the Sam's house and looking in to see if Alex was there. She was, Emily was talking with her over the kitchen bar while eating a muffin that had fresh steam coming from it.

"Can I talk with you for a minute Lex?" Paul shifted a little when Alex swallowed the mouthful of food she had, and raised her eyebrows inquisitively at him.

"Um, sure let me just put some clothes on" She didn't have to point out that fact to Paul, he had worked out that she had stripped out of her comfortable clothes and as soon as breakfast was ready lose her focus on putting more clothes on. Her mind focussed on food and unfazed if anyone did see in just underwear.

It wasn't as if most of them hadn't already.

They were in a more open piece of land when they stopped walking and began to talk at her,

"I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me, I'd do anything for you" Paul began, his voice remaining strong despite the fact his hands were perspiring so that he had to wipe then quickly on his jean cut offs. "I…imprinted, on you" When he finally looked up he tried to judge her expression but it was impossible.

Alex had completely frozen. Her eyes were motionless, mouth slightly agape and arms directly at her sides, palms open. "Al-"

"Shh!" She interrupted him loudly, keeping her frozen composure before slowly, very slowly, her hand started to close up, clenching into tight fists. It was so quite around them, Paul was that concentrated he even made out a small house fly whizz above them before deciding the tension was too much and flying off.

"Imprinting is, like finding your other half-" Again Paul's attempt to coax Alex from her statue disposition was interrupted by Alex's voice, which whipped out, louder and angrier than before.

"I know what it is!" She shouted, turning around and pacing around while muttering her disbelief, "No, no, no, you can't of. You _can't _of." Alex didn't know who she was trying to convince, she wasn't doing a very good job.

Paul was devastated, this was the worst she reaction Alex could have had and now he was going to unintentionally make it worse by trying to comfort and calm her down. One of his tan arms reached out and his hand closed around her forearm, pulling Alex to him.

"Alex calm down, it's fine" He tried to soothe.

Wrenching away from Paul's grip she pointed at him to emphasize the words she shouted.

"No it is not okay Paul! You've spoilt everything! I don't want to stay here, I don't want to get married and have babies with you. You are not my other half, you never will be!" Alex began to hyperventilate, but her tirade had made Paul's own anger flare up.

"Well you wouldn't would you! You think I wanted to imprint on you? Nature forced this Alex, and I wasn't pleased, and I wasn't thrilled. You're the most _backwards _wolf I've ever met" Paul spat out, Alex taking note of how he was proving all the stories Jared had told her about his anger true. She hadn't seen him **this** angry before. When she went to continue her rant, Paul cut her off.

"Anytime someone shows you any kind of compassion or friendship you run, here I am, thinking that you might have a shred of normality in you and accept the highest possible love anyone could have and you are once again blaming everything on me…I bet you were devastated when those leeches rescued you from the other vamps"

Alex's breathing had become more normal now, but the anger was still there burning away and she stared daggers at Paul who was now hyperventilating rather than her.

"Do you know what happened when I was in the Volturi do you? No, well I tell you lover boy shall I?" Her tone was sarcastic as she spit out the words with venom, the calm in her voice more painful than her early shouting.

"I would get bit, and they would fight me for fun, and those were the _rest _days Paul. In the days when they had 'business' I had to go with them, and _help _them on their little missions."

Alex changed suddenly, changing her demeanour from quiet and threatening to angry and violent again.

"I want nothing to do with you, I want nothing to do with your tribe and I could not care less how **wondrous** imprinting is. It's is _forced_, it traps you, making the rest of your life pointless and irrelevant. As soon as this test comes, you never have to see me again. Find another imprint Quilt boy"

That's when she left, her anger erupted and Alex's clothes were in tatters once again, and further ruined as her paw crushed them into the soil as she raced away more eager than ever to be away from the situation.

Paul's tremors raked over his body and unwillingly his anger made him phase. Clouds of hot air billowed from his nose as he took short, shallow, angry breaths. The bad reaction he originally imagined was just quadrupled in that instant.

His anguished howl ran out through the air, Paul had never been so hurt and upset in all his life.

Guilt was beginning to creep over him but he stopped that thought in an instant. Paul was a wolf, and as a wolf with an imprint, it was vital he made the situation clear to Alex. But as he ran, sprinting as far away as he could from the situation, Paul couldn't help but feel another wolfs hurt, upset an confusion. Alex was running as well, doing the first thing her body instincts told her to.

Imprinting was a funny thing, and although Paul knew he was in the right, the fact that he had been the one to inflict that on Alex made his heart sear with anguish.

All he wanted was her to be happy.


	12. Façades Fade

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twelve: Façades Fade 

It was after Paul's confession that things went from good to bad in a fast minute, Alex couldn't stand the fact he had imprinted on her and the relationship she had with the Quileute's diminished. Not feeling comfortable enough, she stayed as a wolf, not changing back at all. She patrolled when it was her turn, and slept near or outside the Uley house rather than in it.

Everyone had tried to persuade Alex to come back in; Emily and Kim had the most difficult job seeing as they were human and the mental bond between them was non-existent. Yet, they tried.

As for Paul, she avoided him completely. Even Sam deliberately paired them together on patrol in the hopes Paul could win the unruly wolf around, and make her see sense. However, just like Alex, Paul was proud and he refused to bend either; ignoring her as well.

But after just over a week, Paul's barrier broke.

"Where's Alex?" Jacob asked the group of boys and Kim, who had decided to join them for the evening. It was late, Sam and Emily had gone to bed but that hadn't stopped the group from continuing the movie night without them.

Paul remained stony eyed, his jaw set as he watched the images on the small television flicker. Quil rubbed his eyes tiredly and collapsed on the floor with a sigh, Jared's foot pushed him over with little effort, making the exhausted boy start groaning with annoyance.

"I don't know and I don't care. What's her problem anyway? We aren't that bad? We've got to be better than the leeches!" Quil said, not noticing Paul's hand tighten dangerously on the remote. Quil was saying everything Paul's mind was thinking angrily. Alex's relationship with the Cullen's was suffering the same way her relationship with the Quileute's was.

Paul didn't know that though, he paid a lot of attention to Alex. Despite his pride not allowing him to recognise her presence, the power of the imprint made him ever aware of it. So, every time he saw her slope off, crossing the border, where else did he think she would go other than to her precious Cullen's? To see her little crush no doubt. The one Paul had stopped getting onto his land, the one that had caused Alex to argue with him.

'Yeah, that's where she would've gone' Paul's mind taunted him cruelly.

"What the hell is that noise?" Embry suddenly piped up, craning his neck to the direction of the patio.

All the wolves paid attention then, and sure enough they could hear it as well. A tempo, too quiet to fully understand, but it was getting closer now, lyrics became clear and the boys soon placed the noise as a popular dance song.

'What are we supposed to do, after all that we've been through, when everything that felt so right is wrong now that the love is gone…' Embry cringed at the loud music which started to pump rhythmically as the base came in, Sam and Emily would surely wake up from this.

On the porch everyone gathered together, trying to uncover what the noise was but they didn't have to wonder for long. A car was heading towards them, its headlights bobbing as it met the uneven surface around Sam's house.

Alex was driving, but half of her body was leant out of the window like a dog enjoying the wind on its face. Her hands held the wheel loosely; she brought the car to a direct stop when she saw the others. Without any grace, Alex's frame fell through the window fully but the young girl just ignored the impact and stumbled to her feet giggling.

Seeing his imprint in such a state made Paul angry and he attempted to cool his brain before joining the others who had rushed over to the drunken girl attempting to help her. Alex just brushed off their supportive hands and leant on the cool metal of the car instead.

She began to mumble to herself, not looking at the group of people spectating her monologue. "Okay" Alex's eyes closed readying herself before she wrenched them open and struck out her hands. Her head shook with disappointment then returned her hands to her side, "No, No that's not right….FLAME ON!" Alex clicked her fingers as she shouted but again nothing happened.

Everyone stared at her perplexed. Jared leant in to the group from his position on the outside, "I think she's trying to phase" he commented with a chuckle in his statement.

The voice pulled Alex from her thoughts.

"Hiiiii" said Alex, dragging the word out with an expression, recognising the group's presence and making everyone realise exactly how intoxicated she was.

Jacob took over as parent suddenly, angry that the first time she had broken her silence was in this way.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Well…_Sam_" Alex laughed at the comparison for a bit before continuing, "I…I…went to pub, and then another, and another…**no!**...I went to karaoke bar and then another bar, then somewhere else…I ate some pickles and now I'm here" When her barely understandable speech came to an end, the expression on Alex's face went from casual to overwhelming happiness; standing there with a huge grin for no apparent reason.

"How did you get the car?" Quil asked before Embry could, their eyes analysing the car and concluding that they hadn't seen it before. Alex turned her head and leaned back through the open window to look in the back seat.

"Urgh…I think it has something to do with him"

The group walked forward, all of them looking at what, or rather who was in the backseat. It was a boy, roughly the same age as them, lying passed out on the seat. A bottle of alcohol gripped tightly in his fist but leaning at such an angle, the contents was slowly dribbling out onto his t-shirt as well as the interior fabric.

"You decided to drink drive and spend the night with a random boy?" Paul's voice was dangerously low and demanding, should Alex have been sober it would have frightened her. It certainly set the others backs up.

Alex looked at him for a minute or two, before her shoulders started to shake with a a mellow chuckle, "Haha…yeah" The radio suddenly changed songs, and Alex gasped loudly as she recognised the beat.

'Hey Mamma this that shit that make you groove Mamma get on the floor and move your booty Mamma'

"Alex get off there right now" Paul shouted at her while Alex, unceremoniously clambered to the roof of the car, jumping up and down, belting out the lyrics and swaying her hips. For once, Alex listened and hopped from the roof,

"…don't wanna squeeze triggers, just wanna squeeze tits" Alex did continuing singing though, and to exaggerate the lyrics, her delicate hands shot out and squeezed Paul's chest before laughing. Enough was enough and Paul decided that since Alex wasn't listening to the easy way, it would have to be the hard way.

Easily Paul scooped Alex up and threw her gently over his shoulders, before giving out instructions to the group.

"Jacob take the car and that thing home, or just park the car and leave him in it – I don't care. Quil, Embry go with him and he'll drop you home on the way. Kim, Jared I don't think there's anything else you can do"

They all nodded and went about their separate ways, leaving Paul to deal with Alex alone. Miraculously Emily and Sam had slept through it all. Sighing Paul attempted to walk back into the house so he could put her on the sofa, God willing she'd sleep it off and he could just keep an eye on her though.

No such luck though. As soon as Alex saw where he was carrying her, she kicked her legs out and protested loudly. Paul put her down on the ground and held her shoulders, questioning her like a misbehaving child.

"What is it? What's the matter now?"

Alex, shrunk under his gaze, before she answered him quietly, "I can't go in there"

Paul rubbed his face with the palm of his hand furiously, not only was he emotionally drained but the constant analysing of Alex's behaviour meant he was also exhausted.

"Why not?" He asked exasperated.

"…That's where you all stay"

After that short question and answer session, Alex stumbled backwards before phasing and tottering into the woods and settling herself into a little flat piece of grass covered ground. Paul phased as well, sitting just on her right side to keep her safe and make sure nothing happened to her.

'This imprinting thing is intense' Paul thought as he watched Alex's wolf form, lazily roll onto her side as sleep slowly began to smother her. To Paul's complete an utter shock, Alex responded mentally with,

"Yes it is"

Paul sat wide eyed and fully awake now; there was another couple of nights sleep gone. How on earth could he sleep after she had said that? What did it mean?


	13. Oh Shit

Temper, Temper: Chapter Thirteen: Oh Shit

With her guard let down, as soon as Alex woke up the next morning and instantly regretted her decision to go out the night before.

A hangover she could deal with, but now Alex had begun talking again, the Quileute's saw it as a sign to try and bring her round again.

Under the shade of the trees Alex groaned, not even bothering to sit up as the memories trickled back again and a chorus of voices began to mentally tirade her.

Her mind argued and debated at what she should do, but Alex reverted to what she knew best. The guard she had momentarily dropped, induced by alcohol was back up; she closed off her thoughts and chose to ignore every voice that tried to speak to her.

Later in the day, when the voices had given up Alex watched them from her natural, woodland bed. It was the Quileute's regular dinner time and the majority of the pack was there, Leah included, just finishing off their meal.

Only once did Paul look up and stare it the trees, catching a glimpse of Alex's silver coat. She avoided his gaze quickly and sat up, shaking her coat out vigorously.

A sudden scent caught Alex's attention and she froze for a moment in disbelief.

'Oh Shit'

They were here, coming fast at them, several miles away but the way they travelled it would be a matter of minutes before they arrived.

Launching into action Alex phased, changed quickly and ran into the Uley home, earning everyone's stared surprised looks as she did so.

The only person she had eyes on though was Paul, before she spoke to him, Alex grabbed a muffin from the table.

"For your sake, you need to forget every thought you've had for me" she warned before sniffing the air again and marching to the western part of the boarder's direction, undoubtedly where they were coming to. She devoured the muffin on her way before phasing once again and running faster, the Quileute's had rallied at Alex's warning and were now following behind her trying to get some answers.

'Alex, what is going on?' Paul was the first to reach her, confusion laced in all his thoughts.

Now they were at the border, and waiting for whatever it was that was about to confront them. Out of the forest they came, wolves. Two of them. The one was a hugely built, deep brown coloured wolf, while the smaller one was grey and had flecks of black coating the tips of his hair.

The Quileute's went into frenzy, Sam trying to order some control and get a formation around the strangers. Alex paid no heed to those thoughts though, her eyes were still trying to convince her mind that the presence of the wolves was a reality.

When she raced forward, the Quileute's watched, baffled at her actions. Alex greeted the larger one first, rubbing her nose deeply into the crook of his shoulder while he held her tightly with his neck. The smaller wolf barked impatiently and Alex moved on to greet him, giving his muzzle a quick lick.

Sam stepped forward then, and Alex couldn't help let out a deep growl as he disturbed the reunion she had joined. The action shocked Sam, he didn't hesitate in retaliating though, consequently making the two foreign wolves pick up their own defensive snarls and the Quileute's respond identically.

'Enough!' Sam spoke silencing his own pack, 'Who are you?' he demanded at the two strangers.

'Sam this is Zeus and Josh – my brother and…boyfriend' Alex spoke up, she instantly regretted it though.

Paul's heart completely crumpled at the smaller wolf's revealed identity and it was felt throughout the entire mental bonds.

The usually well-guarded wolf suddenly dropped his defences and all the memories he had of Alex were flickering in front of everyone's eyes.

Despite the fact only alphas from different packs could communicate, Alex belonged to both and therefore her mind was a link between every pack member of both tribes. She saw the memories and that meant so did Zeus and Josh.

Josh suddenly saw red, infuriated by the fact this stranger had imprinted on _his_ girlfriend.

Vulnerable, Paul wasn't prepared for Josh's attack but someone else was. Before Josh's claws or teeth went anywhere near Paul, Alex launched forward. Desperate she clamped down on Josh's neck, using her weight to pull him away from his target.

Paul fired into action then, sheer fury taking over his earlier brief moment of melancholy. He couldn't get anywhere though; Quil, Embry and Jacob were preventing him from intervening.

Josh, realising his fight with Paul was being prevented, Josh turned his attention on Alex snapping at her while she still desperately pulled him away from the group.

'Stop it Josh, its fine.'

'He's _imprinted _one you, and you think its **fine! – **I thought you hated imprinting'

'I do!' Alex countered, trying to keep her cool while Josh bombarded her patience with all his own anger and frustration. 'Nothing's happened!'

'Yeah, I believe that' He spat sarcastically at her, still trying to shake her grip from his neck.

In an instant Alex changed from defensive, she dropping her grip and launched at Josh.

Snapping her jaws viciously inducing a fight between the two, Alex barked at Josh and they wrestled viciously before they left the groups site. Paul was still trying to get free from his captors until Sam ordered him to stay where he was, now the alpha's attention was back on Alex's supposed brother.

'I'm going to be prematurely bald if this carries on' thought Sam as he began to explain the entirety of the situation to Zeus.

Alex and Josh had simmered down, like they always did and everyone was now human again, finding communication easier without their wolf egos in the way.

Paul's tremors were failing to die down though; his shoulders were trembling as he watched Alex with her new group.

Josh was a tall boy, thick through the shoulders and dark black facial stubble. Zeus was a large man, he carried a lot of thick, muscle weight around his thighs, chest and shoulders, making him a very imposing figure before you even looked at his face.

His eyes were dark and calculating, his hair was dark as well; muddy brown like his wolf alias and his jaw line was harsh and set in its place firmly.

After his talk with Sam, Zeus decided that it was best for Alex to stay here until the test was over; if the Volturi came here and saw she wasn't it would definitely go against her.

He did remain firm on staying her himself though, after Alex had visited home yesterday he was able to follow the trail here. It was up to Alex on filling him in with how she ended up with the Volturi, not Sam, he didn't even know the answer himself.

They would also be helping out on patrol, considering Victoria hadn't been found yet and the pack also needed to be Bella's bodyguards – Alex had protested at this.

If the human was stupid enough to get involved with their species, she deserved to be stupid enough to protect herself.

Though she wouldn't make the mistake of thinking this in Jacob's presence again; Alex had suffered a nasty cut – though it healed quickly – in a fight with him.

Since then, the issue had been resolved but she had noticed him leaving his second patrol with his own grizzly chest laceration the day after though.

Paul was undoubtedly to blame.

It had made Alex smile when it happened, wolves got in fights all the time, cuts and bruises easily healed within the hour, there was no need for fuss.

Alex was pleased to see her brother and boyfriend, but the tension between the groups were unbearable, everyone was attempting to stare the other person out.

Quileute's were angry at the Welsh wolves, the Welsh wolves were angry at the Quileute's and it was not a pleasant place to be.

When they all parted, Alex looked back at her Quileute's as they all left for their homes while she phased once again for another night in the peacefully, quiet forest.

Exactly what she liked, but when Josh's body shadowed her own possessively Alex couldn't help but dread the inquisition off the two men that was, without fail, going to happen.


	14. Did You Miss Me?

Temper, Temper: Chapter Fourteen: Did You Miss Me?

Alice had a vision the same night all hell broke loose in La Push, the newborn army was going to happen soon. A lot sooner than anyone thought it would happen.

Now, it was the day of the big event.

Despite not being Quileute's themselves Alex had told Josh and Zeus they would be going as well, while they lived here the packs had to work together, besides more numbers could only help their odds.

'Stop it, get your head in the fucking game' Alex warned, aiming the remark at Josh as he and Paul exchanged angry stares and lowly growls. Behind the shield of the forest edge, the wolves were waiting till the newborns were in prime position for them to join the attack.

Everyone was restless, especially Alex. She wasn't stupid – a newborn army facing off with residential vamps in the place she was supposed to be staying? How could the Volturi ignore this? No, Alex was certain they would be here.

Her paws were tip toeing across the grass as she paced back and forth, resulting in all the other wolves to feed off her anxiety.

'You ok kid?' Alex, trotted away from her own group over to where Seth stood in a nervous silence.

'He's fine Princess' Leah commented, growling at Alex who ignored her, preferring to direct her attention to Seth who was definitely as apprehensive as Alex but for different reasons.

'Alex, get back in the line' Zeus demanded forcefully, raising his head to get her attention and watching as she ran back over to them compliantly slotting back into the formation.

Seth hadn't answered her and Alex decided she would pay attention to him until he left to accompany Jacob in one of the mountains. Apparently Edward had a plan to keep Bella safe; Jacob and Seth were part of it.

Now it was closer to their time, everyone started to crouch down ready to strike.

'Kill the vamps, kill the vamps, kill the vamps' Quil chanted quickly, trying to get in the appropriate vampire killing mood, whatever that mood was.

'Now!' Sam yelled and they all launched into action; Paul was the first to jump over the blockade, his anger making him more eager to unleash the pent up anger and frustration that had filled his head since this whole situation started.

Bloodlust took over Alex, but she didn't have time to think of the irony – given that they were fighting vampires – she was more concerned with the pale, white, red eyed creatures. Easily she bit down on the necks of three, not looking at their faces as she did.

Pure instinct had enveloped the wolves, the scent of all these vampires oozed into their pores, triggering the natural predator genes that they all had handed down to them.

As another vampire crumbled from Alex's swiping paw and gnashing mouth, she took the opportunity to look up and survey the battle ground.

Zeus was easily making small work of his task on the other side of the field, that didn't surprise Alex he was an incredibly strong wolf with a calculating brain to match. She spotted Josh next, locked in a duel with a single male newborn who was racing away from the wolf before pivoting around consecutively trying to get a grip on him.

Alex ducked as a wolf, Embry presumably judging by the fighting technique he was displaying, jumped over her as he shook off a younger new born that was holding tightly onto him.

She started to search for Seth, and began to panic when his familiar coat didn't enter her vision. It was too soon for him to leave yet. A deep breath escaped her mouth when she finally caught sight of him; Seth was racing away from a newborn that looked to have been turned during his early twenties. At an amazing speed Seth lashed around, taken his chaser by surprise and not giving him enough time to escape the wolf's jaws.

Pride swelled in Alex's heart but it lingered for only a moment before two newborns raced at her, gaining her full concentration.

They didn't last long, despite Alex being relatively young; she was extremely good at embracing her other wolf alias, allowing her inbuilt instincts to automatically move her limbs correctly. Soon her jaws did the work; resulting in another two victories for the wolf and Cullen side.

Looking up again, Alex saw Paul.

Several metres from her, a newborn had him pinned to the floor. She saw him struggling against the creatures vice grip and made a dash to help him, her heart clamping strangely when he gave a barely audible whine.

Her actions weren't needed though, as her paws hit the ground quickly, in the second step she took Alex saw Emmett running at Paul. With a huge force, the newborn was ripped away from Paul, allowing him to skid to his feet, lurch around and take the death grip.

Alex didn't miss the curt nod both men gave each other.

Not wasting any more time spectating Alex picked up a few of the strangling newborns, joining the Cullen's who had the same idea.

Finally, Rosalie held the last one down while Alex once again used a strong paw to counter the force she used in her neck, as she pulled away the creatures limbs.

When Rosalie stepped around the creature beneath Alex's feet, the scene in front of them was revealed; Leah was being held tightly by the last remaining newborn vampire, she tossed to the side as she tried to shake it off. Seeing this, Jacob launched into action.

Alex relaxed, Jacob could handle this easily.

But this newborn was clever, it swayed away from Jacob's claws as the wolf pushed his way in front of Leah and landed straight in front of the vampire.

Sensing an advantage the vamp caught Jacob around the middle and squeezed with all its strength.

Cracks of bone resounded in Alex's head, 'Jacob!' she yelled surging forward as fast as her legs could carry her, the leech had been taken care of by one of her comrades, but that didn't help Jake who was writhing in agony, back in human form in front of her.

"Jacob you idiot, I had that!" Leah shouted a baritone of shock and dismay in her voice.

All the Quileute's were changed back now, looking after their brother. "Give it a rest Leah" Paul said, jogging forward to inspect Jake.

Alex pawed at the floor a little before trying to comfort her friend; rubbing her nose against his warm skin.

Carlisle raced over then, explaining that Jacob's bones were trying to repair themselves but they weren't aligned properly. Alice joined them then interrupting.

"Their coming – two minute"

Alex froze, the Volturi were on their way.

"Ok, take Jacob back to his home, with your permission I'll follow you and examine him properly" Sam nodded his head approvingly and Carlisle continued,

"Don't stick around here, if they sense or smell you they'll want you destroyed" He directed that at Zeus and Josh, as well as Paul whose hands were curled into fists.

Then as Jacob, carried by several of the Quileute's, left the battleground Zeus and Josh followed quickly, racing in the opposite direction into the woods.

Carlisle turned to Alex and placed a cold comforting hand on her shoulder blade steadying her tremors,

"I have to go and help Jacob, you'll be fine, all the other Cullen's are here. Remember everything you've learnt"

With that said, Carlisle followed the path the local wolves had taken, while Alex turned and raced into the woods, changing into her normal self again before following Alice back to the others.

A fog bank had accumulated ahead of them, adding to the tense, surreal scene. Alex smelt the familiar stink of vampire before she saw them, the scent burning in her throat and setting all her muscles into tight springs.

Then, they came through. Breaking the fog formation as they walked with proud doggedness that made their black capes swirl out around them dramatically, the Volturi stalked forward. Alice stared worriedly at Alex, familiar signs of her discomfort were coming back into her body language; her shoulders were rounded forward, hands balled into tight fists, and a grimace etched on her face.

"You need to relax and _calm down_" Alice warned dangerously, nodding when Alex's hands relaxed at her sides and her expression cooled.

Inside though, Alex's head was raging full of protest, confusion and anger.

Felix added more fuel to this, stopping in front of them with a cool smirk on his face before he spoke with slick charm, "Did you miss me Flower?"


	15. A Star

Temper, Temper: Chapter Fifteen: A*

Memories of her time with the Volturi came flooding into her head, triggering her famous temper and making her fingers twitch as she fought to the natural instinct to phase.

"No, I can't say that I have imparticular" said Alex, opening her eyes and falsely smiling at the person who caused a lot of misery in her life. "Where's Aro?"

"We haven't missed the fact that somebody has been watching Aro's decisions, and he sadly could not make it – pity" Jane stared harshly at Alex for the majority of her sentence, but she cast an angry flicker of a look to Alice halfway through.

"Pity" Alex repeated before waiting for the one of the Volturi to say something else which would set the fuse to her temper alight.

Alec watched his sister as she paused, thinking carefully about the words she was going to say next. Demetri did the same; Felix on the other hand was merely looking at Alex, tilting his head to the side with an amused expression on his face while he studied her.

"It's been two months, almost, and since this unfortunate mess…" Jane gestured behind the Cullen's at the fire, on which pieces of vampires were burning, making the fire smoke, spit and crackle. "…is over with, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't perform the task of testing Felix's puppy presently. _Killing_ two birds with one stone if you will"

"Aro would want to be here" Alex unwisely stated, suddenly her body was raked with pain as Jane glared furiously at her. The pain lasted mere minutes but it reminded Alex exactly who was in control here.

"You don't speak for the Volturi" She spat, "Luckily we haven't started the test yet-"

"We'll let that one slide" Felix added, watching Alex as she stood back up again, taking a deep breath to soothe her muscles. The wolf's display merely made him more confident that Alex would fail any test that they gave her.

"Aro will be informed of the result…you may even get the chance to tell him yourself" Alex piped up before falling silent again and waiting once more for Jane to speak.

"Any display of anger, discomfort or frustration. You fail. Turn into a wolf. You fail. Any answering back. You fail. Disobey anything we say. You fail" Jane decided the rules and nodded to confirm them.

"How long will it be for?" Edward asked eager to know the exact details. Jane merely smiled at him. A normal smile is meant to comfort those you smile at, this smile did anything but comfort the Cullen's. Alex was on trial, and Jane was the judge, jury and executioner.

"Let's begin"

Felix and Demetri clapped their hands together with eager smiles as they took a few step backs to see what would happen. Jane looked at Alex for a while before she raised her finger and beckoned someone forward.

Lashing her head around, she watched as Emmett walked forward calmly. He had his usually laid back expression on his face and shot Alex a comforting smile before standing where Jane pointed him to.

"…pain" Jane whispered

Alex's mind screamed blue murder as she saw one of her best friends, crumple to the floor writhing in pain and struggling to breath. 'Don't react she wants you to react, if you do it'll all be for nothing. Calm down. It'll stop now' Alex told herself, but her eyes and squeezed shut tightly.

"Open your eyes" Jane said, obediently Alex did as she was told but her face remained perfectly complacent, antithesising the screaming voice in her head, 'How did she know I'm good friends with Emmett?'

A twitch ran through Alex's left arm, and she was relieved when the pain and torture Emmett was put through ended, and she had managed to keep her calm throughout it all.

'Alex: One, Volturi: Zero' Her monologue cheered out, making Alex's lips tweak into an easy smile while she watched Emmett give her a wink and walk back over to hold Rosalie's hand which had become preoccupied with biting her nails.

Alex didn't say anything; she once again tried to relax her brain before it could remember what Jane had put Emmett through moments ago.

"Demetri" Jane motioned the strong vampire forward, and in a remarkable sense of coincidence, he just stood extremely close to her, invading her personal space in the exact same way Edward had when the Cullen's were training her.

But it wasn't Edward standing in front of her now.

It was Demetri. One of the Volturi guards, one of the members who had prevented her from leaving, one of the members who had stolen her from her home, and now he was here, taunting her with a wicked smile just millimetres from her face.

Again, the red haze of anger prickled around her fighting to get out. Demetri's red eyes were staring at her, unblinking as if trying to tease her instincts into breaking, allowing the livid wolf he knew was inside, to be unleashed.

Alex was unmoving though, despite her angry tirade of though smashing the walls of her skull, she had fought tooth and nail to keep the composure everyone was praying for her to maintain.

It looked as though she might be winning that battle.

Jane called off Demetri and Alex couldn't help a small victorious smile to stretch her lips over her cheeks when she saw the façade of Felix's calm exterior to flicker and momentarily reveal a frustrated expression.

Jane also showed a small element of perplexity when Alex's composure was still in perfect place but when Demetri joined their ranks again, an idea crossed her mind.

Jane motioned Alec in the direction of the Alex and suddenly her senses failed her. Rather than seeing the Volturi in front of her, Alec's desensitising mist had enveloped her, blackening out her vision and plugging her ears so she could not hear.

Alex didn't know whether the loss of her senses made her lose the ability to keep track of time or whether she was in-fact stood there for a long time. Now she was beginning to panic, senses were the main thing people relied on for survival and now her own had been snatched away.

The mist was now extracted from her ears and a chilling voice replaced it.

"How does it feel to know that you're going to be back, with me, in Volterra? Back doing our dirty work?"

It was Felix's voice and when it coursed into her head, Alex stiffened; surely the Volturi couldn't just take her back? Aro had said she could have a fair test.

'Aro's not here now kid, you're playing by their rules. They can just say you phased and lie'

Now Alex doubted everything and it was making her frustrated, Felix's voice earned her attention before her hand could make to curl into a fist.

"Did you make a lot of friends here? People you think _care _about you, they don't care. They've all gone back to their normal lives now, glad to be rid of you"

Felix had done the worst thing possible. Alex may not be able to control her anger, but she had made friends here and although he tried to manipulate her into thinking she wasn't cared for, her strong willed mind knew he was lying.

Even if he wasn't and she was in fact being stolen back to their prison, why should she give him the satisfaction of proving his lack of faith in her control correct.

One person cared for her more than anything, she didn't want him to but no number of lying Volturi guards could sway her certainty of what imprinting was. Despite Alex's rejection of it.

Felix carried on with his attempts to anger her, but Alex was calm now – the faith she had in knowing her friends did care for her made her ignore the statements. Emmett had just taken three minutes of Jane's torture for her without so much as a protesting word – How could he not care for her?

Suddenly the mist was lifted and Alex was able to see again.

"Well, apparently the Cullen's are better dog trainers than Felix" Jane stated with a bored expression, not even looking at Felix. Alex couldn't resist though; her captivator had an expression of pure rage on his face.

Without thinking, Alex beamed at him, her smile revealing the set of pearl white teeth behind her pink lips. She had passed.

Jane had then gone onto talking about the newborn army, and Alex winced when Felix stormed past her after being ordered to deal with the one the Cullen's had missed.

After a shot while the Volturi left, it allowed Alex to unleash her pure joy. She launched into the air, raising her fist in triumph,

"Yes!" She yelled out loudly "A-Star for Alex!", Emmett had scooped her up when her feet were returning to the ground. He jostled her happily,

"You did it Socks! You really did it!"

When Alex's feet did hit the floor finally, her face dropped as realization hit.

"Jacob!" She gasped while brushing the Cullen's congratulating hugs off and launching forward becoming a wolf again and racing to Billy's house, stampeding through the forest at great speed.


	16. Apologies

Temper, Temper: Chapter Sixteen: Apologies

Alex phased back to normal when she exited the forest near Billy's house, she didn't slow down and instead picked up as much speed as her human legs allowed her to. By the time she ripped open the door and walked into the quaint house she was panting deeply.

Carlisle was talking to Billy, informing him of the care Jacob was going to need until he healed fully. When Alex walked in, his face lit up and quickly but efficiently he finished up his advice, shook Billy's hand then enveloped Alex into a hug.

"You did it!" He said, the statement didn't go unnoticed by the entire Quileute wolf pack erupted into cheers and hollers of congrats. She hushed them all though.

"Is he okay?" Alex said, worriedly when Carlisle put her back on solid ground again. The doctor's face frowned a little but he answered her honestly,

"The bones on the right side of his body were shattered, the wolf genes were trying to repair them, and most of them had set partially by the time I got here…" Carlisle paused and judged whether he should go on or not by Alex's expression. The bottom of her lip was trapped by her teeth as she chewed on it anxiously, Carlisle continued. "I had to break them again so they set correctly – but he is going to be fine"

With that Carlisle gave Alex a comforting hug and left the foreign territory, allowing her to walk past the others and into Jacob's room. The young wolf raised his head weakly to see his visitor,

"Was that cheering for you? Here's me thinking I was being toasted as the hero" Alex laughed lightly as she sat by his side, enjoying his sarcasm that was strong as ever, despite his injuries.

"Passed with flying colours didn't I" Alex answered him coolly, rubbing her thumb over Jacob's warm hand. She guessed that the good vamp doctor had given him something to attempt to ease the pain as Jake's eyes began to close slowly.

"Well done kid" He said drowsily, imitating the way Alex always referred to the other wolves as kids before he started to snore deeply.

Gently, Alex backed out of the room with a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, Jacob was safe and that was all that mattered. A newborn battle with only one non-fatal injury, all things considered, Alex thought they got off pretty lightly.

Most of the group of Quileute's had dispersed amongst themselves, home to their own families Alex guessed.

"He's a brave boy Billy" Alex said to Jacob's wheelchair bound father, who thanked her for the appraisal before making his way over to Sue who was finishing up making a pot of tea. On the Black's sofa Quil and Embry were talking quietly, both of them shaken by the battle. Leah and Seth were absent, as was Kim, her partner though, walked over to Alex and hugged her tightly.

"You did good Socks" Jared complimented, "We all knew you could do it though, not sure what your odds would have been if Leah was giving the test though" He finished with a light chuckle,

"Yeah, they might have been taken down a peg or two" Alex agreed, smiling.

When Jared turned serious for a moment Alex flinched slightly, still being held in his strong arms she felt slightly trapped.

"He wants to see you" was all that he said before giving her a final nod and smile then making his way out of the door, shouting his goodbyes on the way.

'Of course he does' Alex thought with a breathy, loud sigh.

Paul was sat outside, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands fidgeting together as he thought. When Alex walked outside, her bare feet patting on the wooden porch made Paul sit up straighter, when he placed her scent he turned around. Alex followed him without question as he walked away and into the forest.

As they got deep enough to not be seen or heard, but close enough to the edge so the last of the evening light was trickling through the branches they stopped. Alex remained silent as Paul thoughtfully paced in front of her, she knotted her hands together, rubbing them together in some basic form of comfort.

"I knew you'd pass today, and I know that means you're going to leave but I _have _to lay everything on the table for you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't Alex" He said, Alex relaxed when Paul's voice started with a small laugh, but as he began to get serious, she started to feel anxious again. Paul sat on a large stone that was jutting out of the earth's surface.

"I love you, that's what imprinting is and that is exactly what I feel. I want you to stay and be with me, don't go back to Wales, there are so many people who love and care for you here _besides me_" Paul carried on, his voice filled with emotion.

"I can't Paul"

"Why?" His voice got more demanding and it made Alex flinch uncharacteristically at the tone, Paul continued though, "What's stopping you? A divine force tells you I'm your exact match and you run away!"

Alex remained silent and allowed him to continue the speech, but his voice started to lose volume and he approached her quietly, picking up her chin so she was looking him in the eye.

"You _know_ it's right"

For a moment Paul thought she was listening and accepting but she pulled from his grasp gently but remained firm footed where she was. A twig snapping earned both their attentions; Josh and Zeus approached, making Paul sigh as the smaller grey wolf picked up a soft snarl when he saw how close they were.

"I'm sorry Paul, I'm really sorry it was me you imprinted on"

When Paul's ears picked up more of Josh's snarls he couldn't help but let his anger force him to phase, and the two picked up a fight again, for what must have been the fifth time since they had arrived.

'Get it through your head, mongrel, she doesn't want you' Josh spat through his thoughts, Paul responded by pinning his opponent to the floor and snarling viciously with his lip raised dangerously over his canines.

Alex, who had now also phased pushed between then.

'Stop!'

Paul receded his grip but Josh suddenly got an idea, a cruel idea that made Alex turn vicious in an instant. He was reflecting of all his memories of him and Alex, together. The intimate images made Alex lash around and bite Josh's neck with as much force as she could muster, with all her might she wrestled him to the ground and continued to growl deeply into his face.

'Why would you do that? You _know_ what imprinting does! You _know _how it affects people!' Alex bellowed into his face, Zeus suddenly intervened and saved Josh from anymore injury.

'We'll wait ahead' He stated, taking his own grip on Josh's neck and pulling him away harshly, after all that was his sister.

Alex walked slowly back over to the silver wolf who had gone from pure livid to utter heartbreak, he picked his head back up when she got near.

'I have to go'

'You don't have to do anything Alexandria, you're choosing to run away' Paul's voice whipped through her thoughts.

'I don't want to leave on bad terms Paul' Alex back up a few steps on her paws,

'So don't leave! You haven't even said goodbye to Sam, Jacob, Quil, _Seth_…the Cullen's!" Paul begged mentally, walking forward so he was closer to her, he bent down to see her eyes when Alex responded by lowering her head.

Alex stood up suddenly and rubbed her muzzle against his,

'I'm really sorry Paul'

That was her final words before she sprang around and launched after her two companions, forcing her legs to curl under her and project her forward faster when the mournful, heart-breaking sound of a wolfs howl surged around the evening dusk.


	17. Self Pity and Another Wedding

Temper, Temper: Chapter Seventeen: Self Pity and Another Wedding

Alex left La Push, returning to her Welsh homeland as she regained her freedom and independence once again. All of the resident Quileute wolves reacted differently to her departure and it cause a lot of inner conflict in the tribe.

Seth was incredibly upset that Alex had left without saying goodbye, surely if they were as good of friends as he thought they were, she would have had the courtesy to give them all a proper farewell?

Jacob tried to console the youngest wolf, he had faith in Alex and knew she would have had a strong reason to leave like that. Leah made things worse, interjecting every time Jacob offered words of comfort with,

"Face it Seth, she just used us as her meal ticket out of here" She had said one particular discussion. Jacob clenched his fists together angrily,

"Meal ticket! I wouldn't call twelve hour patrol shifts, teaching _your _brother the ropes and spending God knows how long in your _pleasant _company a meal ticket!" He argued back strongly, standing up when his temper rose dramatically.

Quil and Embry had joined in then, arguing as one until one particular statement made them turn on one another resulting in a full internal argument in the tribe.

Two people sat out of it though. Everyone knew Jared's opinion; he had told them time and time again that he had faith in Alex's decision, and that it's her life and she has the best say in what is right or wrong for her.

Paul had the ability to console Seth, but how could he possibly console Seth when he couldn't even console his own emotions.

Sam's beta wolf had turned into a complete robot since Alex left. With his imprint gone, most likely forever, Paul was devastated and all of his natural charismatic sparkle diminished into mechanical movements that carried out his day to day life.

Sam told him to patrol, he went on patrol, he had a shift at the garage, he went to work and when they were both finished, Paul was left alone to his conflicting thoughts.

The group did what they could to get Paul back, as much as they could, to his normal self. Before all this started. All of them would invite him to various group gatherings; bonfires, movie days, shopping days, anything they could think of to make him join them.

Every time they ask though, the invitations were rejected with little politeness and when some wolves didn't take no for an answer, he would go but in body only. Paul would sit in the corner and hide himself off from the central group socialising – It was as if he was punishing himself for this whole ordeal.

Temper control was never Paul's strong point and with Alex's departure his tolerance got far worse and he would blow up in a rage at the smallest things.

One week after his imprint left, Paul exerted so much force into opening a bag of crisps that the bite size savoury snacks exploded like confetti all over his living room floor.

When that happened, his anger surged and anything in his way either got broken or shattered as he shakily tried to make it outside before phasing into his wolf when the tremors overtook his body.

It was worse when the things that got in Paul's way were not inanimate objects and instead were his wolf brothers or other La Push residents.

Sam had to deal with the violent fights that seemed to break out every other day. The alpha was fast losing his patience with his beta wolf, but he could empathize with him, knowing the intensity the power of the imprint took you to.

Never the less, Paul needed to be told exactly what was acceptable.

Now it had been three months.

A trio of months that felt like half a lifetime to Paul, he pondered over his memories with Alex for the rest of the morning, sitting on his sofa in self-pity.

He forced out the bad memories; the argument they had at the border line, when he told her he imprinted on her, and when she left. Instead he focussed purely on the positive memories; spending days with her when they went to Wales, patrolling with her when Sam conveniently paired them together, and when she was content just by being in his company.

"Come on pal, time to get ready" Jared pulled him off the couch easily with a smile. Today was Sam and Emily's wedding and it was one of the only days Paul couldn't disregard an invitation, seeing as one of his best friends was about to tie the marital knot.

"Isn't Seth here?" Paul questioned Jared whilst looking around the congregation; he had spotted Leah with her mother and grandparents, but Seth wasn't in their group.

Jared shook his head, "Nope, apparently he's on this school trip or something and the flights been delayed, he was due back yesterday"

Paul nodded and stretched the neck of his collar, finding the small church a little overwhelming as people started to frogmarch into their appropriate seats.

On the uncomfortable wooden pew Paul sat by Jacob and Quil, Sam may have given Jared the honour of being the official best man, but the wolf pack took up the priority front row seats. Unofficially all his best men.

Leah, had of course joined – Sam must of _alpha-ed _his way into getting her to agree - Kim as a bridesmaid though Paul could help the thought 'Alex would do that dress so much more justice' into his head when he saw them both following flower girl, Claire down the aisle.

The front row of the church broke appropriate behaviour for religious buildings by jumping to their feet and cheering like crazy when the 'Kiss the bride' end sentence was uttered out, Quil taking it upon himself to be the official confetti bearer and douse the couple in the glittery mixture.

Sam's face was a picture as he broke away from his new bride with cascades of silver sparkles streaming down his un-amused face while a picture perfect Emily laughed and brushed the celebration dust from his cheeks.

Strangely Paul's spirits were uplifted as he was bundled into one of the cars that carried them to the after party.

'About time' thought Paul who was close to strangling the hired photographer who continuously rammed the lens of his expensive camera into everyone's faces.

Besides, after parties always meant booze and booze was the greatest drink a man craving self-pity could have as far as Paul was concerned.

Although Paul preliminary enjoyed himself, his spirits deflated slightly when he saw that they were in the same pub as where Alex had sang and danced at the other more boring wedding.

It was as though everywhere he went, something always dragged his thoughts back to the one thing he couldn't have.

Even the beer tasted peculiar as he bolted his first pint before ordering another and claiming a table at the far back of the room. Just because this was Sam's wedding, did not mean he was mingling with the cringe worthy stereotype characters of wedding grouped together in social gossip groups.

When the bride and groom arrived, Paul respectfully clapped his hands together and toasted his glass when Sam looked in his direction. Simultaneously the rest of the wedding attendants did so.

When a figure took to the stage Paul wrinkled his brow in confusion. Hadn't Jared just told Paul when they were in the church that Seth was on a school trip that's return flight had been delayed?

Yet there the youngest wolf member was in his suit with a metallic blue tie on, making his way across the stage to the microphone pole, raising his hand in greeting when people started to notice him.

Leaning back against the comfortable polyester covered cushions, Paul waited for the explanation curiously.

Maybe he just caught an earlier flight?

Whatever it was, Seth better have a good excuse. His mother was sitting with Billy Black, an expression of thunder on her face.

'Family wedding dramas, there's nothing like them' Paul thought with a rare smile as he took another deep gulp from the golden liquid in his pint glass.


	18. Another Quilt Party

Temper, Temper: Chapter Eighteen: Another Quilt Party

"Okay, so I know your all wondering why I'm here and not in Atlanta looking at colleges" Seth's voice wavered when he caught his mother's eye, so he made a special effort to avoid looking at the left side of the room. "…So, um…well that trip is next month….and only for two days"

Why would Seth lie to everyone about where he was? It was extremely out of character for the young wolf, more importantly why would he choose to admit the lies at Emily and Sam's wedding?

Before anyone could question Seth's actions he picked up his speech again,

"I wish Sam and Emily a lifetime of happiness and health, now I'd like to invite them to take to the floor for their first dance, as a special gift for them…and other people as well"

Everyone in the room was confused by Seth's garbling mix match of speeches, never the less though a small clap travelled around the room and the couple made their way to the floor.

Sam shot Seth a questioning look, but the young wolf wasn't paying any attention; he looked behind him anxiously before leaving the stage, straight into his mother and Leah's wrath.

"Just wait!" Seth demanded, as he looked around, annoyed at the two women's voices which had started to shout at him angrily.

The two women did as they were told and watched as Sam and Emily began to dance to the slow strum of a guitar emanating from the DJ booth.

Suddenly what Seth had been waiting for happened, the door that led to the back of the pub opened quickly and shut just as fast behind the new visitor to the party.

The new presence winced as Seth pointed to his watch angrily and motioned for her to quickly get on stage.

The woman walked up onto the stage confidently, and took the microphone delicately in her hands and whispered out "Sorry I'm late" before she began to sing alongside the music lightly.

"Another turning point the fork stuck in the road, time grabs you by the wrist directs you were to go. So make the best of this test and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time"

The singers eyes looked up at the crowd, the green orbs had filled up a little as she sung "It's something unpredictable but in the end that's right I hope you had the time of your life"

At the back of the room Paul's head had bolted up, he knew the woman's voice. He had played over every word it ever spoke to him countless times – How could he not recognise it?

Sam and Emily, as well as the other wolves knew the voice as well and began to cheer wildly, the other guests thought they were applauding her singing so they joined in as well.

Alex looked up at the crowd and smiled warmly, ducking her head with a breathy laugh at the cheer before taking up the soundtrack to the Uley's first dance as man and wife once more.

The man at the back of the room still could not believe her presence; he didn't move or speak. Paul just sat with his mouth agape, staring at his imprint in disbelief. Alex only had eyes for one person as she sung, but as her eyes filled up once again, she decided to point her attention around the room again.

Seth had a group of the Quileute wolves around him, questioning him on what had happened and embracing the youngster into tight hugs and warm words. Even his mother only gave him a small discipline, insisting that she could have kept the secret with a smile.

The warm reception shifted onto Alex as she left the stage, her song finishing with Emily and Sam clapping, happy their adopted tribe member could be here for their wedding.

Alex allowed them a few minutes to welcome her back, but there was one wolf she needed to see more importantly. Moving from his desolate seat at the back, Paul had managed to take back control over his induced mechanical movements and was slowly walking from his seat in her direction.

Under the hugs, Alex saw his figure and she pushed her way out of them and launched over to Paul as quickly as she could manage. She leapt at him then, throwing her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Paul caught her easily and embraced her tightly.

"I'm sor-" Alex had moved to tell him exactly how bad she felt about what she had done to him, but when she moved to look at him, his lips crashed onto her own greeting her back to La Push as though she had been gone three years instead of three months.

The usual reaction to people kissing came from the Quileute's; they hollered wildly, wolf whistling, cat calling, but mainly everyone cheered, clapping their hands together with such enthusiasm their hands started to get sore.

Cheering didn't throw the couple off though; they just simultaneously smiled into the kiss and carried on. Paul was sure this wasn't a reality, any minute now he would be pulled from this bliss and awake on his sofa without her in his arms but a half empty pack of crisps.

Alex knew it was a reality though, a dream like reality she was the cause of but she had waited for this for a long time, and wasn't giving it up that easily.

Paul finally put her back on the floor and took her cheeks in his hands, holding her at arm's length and inspecting every inch of her face. Smiling at Paul's confused face Alex held onto his forearms and made sure he was staring in her eyes,

"It is me" Alex worded out for him, still smiling at his bemused face.

"How are you here? When are you leaving? Are you sure I'm not dreaming? How did you get here? What about Josh? What about Wale-"Paul's lips were pinched together by Alex's delicate nails so as his waffling inquisition was put on hold.

Alex made a confused face before taking a deep breath, "Seth, I don't think I am, pretty sure, in a car, he's a douche bag, Wales can wait" she answered consecutively.

The two imprints had a lot to talk about, but it was still Sam and Emily's wedding, they weren't about to leave yet, not when celebrations had barely begun and this wedding had been in planning since God knows how long.

"Come on Paul, dance with me" Alex said, taking hold of Paul's hand and attempting to pull him from his seat where they had talked for a few minutes and lead him to the dance floor.

Even with the werewolf gene, Alex couldn't pull him, he was stronger than her.

"You know I don't dance" Paul laughed and he surprised himself at how naturally the sound came out considering it had been absent from his life for exactly three months.

Alex made a face at him and got to her feet, batted her eyelashes dramatically and put a hand over heart as she swaggered onto the dance floor anyways. Without her company Paul was not prepared to let her out of his sight, not just yet.

So in spite of himself, Paul took another swig of a newly purchased beer and followed her into the crowd with a noisy exhale.

The gang of wolves parted the circle for the two new recruits; Alex was taken in hand by Jacob quickly. He embraced her before twirling her dramatically around before Jared took over,

"I'm pleased your back Socks, and I know I'm not the only one" he said in her ear.

His statement made Alex look back at Paul who was comradely enjoying being part of the group banter once again. When he looked up at her, Alex smiled before smiling at the ground and then then back to Jared.

"Not just Paul, everyone…except Leah" he added before hugging Alex, twirling her around then passing her onto the next member of the pack in turn.

At the end of the night, everyone had gotton a bit too merry with the devil drink and was making their way home. Paul and Sam were the most sober of the bunch, Sam wasn't getting drunk, he was going home picking up his suitcases then going to the airport to leave for his honeymoon.

As for Paul, how could he get drunk? There was no way he was losing his memory of this night. Alex was the next most sober, but she never was able to handle alcohol so her words were slurring as Sam pulled her to one side.

"I know your living arrangements haven't been worked out yet, but its fine by me if you want to stay there and look after the place while me and Emily are gone" said Sam with a happy smile as he lay a fatherly hand on Alex's shoulder.

Alex leaned away from Paul and threw herself around Sam's neck with watery eyes; alcohol making her more emotional than she usually would be.

"Thank you so much Sam!"

They all waved off the couple before Alex took Paul's hand and they started to journey away from the pub coolly, she leaned into his warm side contented.

"Maybe you Quilts aren't so bad after all"


	19. Impatience

Temper, Temper: Chapter Nineteen: Impatience 

Paul woke up the next morning early; he had never felt so content and happy in all his life, even though nineteen years wasn't exactly a lifetime. Last night he said he would come straight from his home over to the Uley's when he woke up, seeing as Alex was now minding Sam and Emily's home while they were off honeymooning.

The little red digits on the clock by Paul's bed flickered into his vision brightly, they flashed out '6:03am' persistently. Somehow Paul didn't think that Alex would be impressed if he trotted over there at this time, he hadn't forgotten the several bruises Quil and Embry sustained when they decided to 'wake her up' one morning.

Knowing this but still invigorated for what today would bring, Paul got up anyway and decided that he would kill time by taking a shower,

'…and maybe clean this place up' He added to his own monologue when his foot crushed a stray pizza crust that he had carelessly strewn away without a second thought.

Paul heaved out the huge black bag of rubbish outside when he was finished, then ran back inside and heavily pressed a button on the TV remote. The screen lit up and he searched the bottom left of the screen for more digits. These ones flickered up when the television box turned off standby then into action, these ones read 6:43am.

Heavily Paul groaned, taking a shower and cleaning up couldn't waste enough time.

"Bloody clocks!"

Alex would still be sleeping but he wasn't waiting anymore and with that thought in his head, Paul took off to Sam's place at a steady job.

La Push decided to reflect Paul's mood, the sun was glaring down onto the unusually green grass with mists of heat and light. Paul jogged into the familiar house easily until an unseen feeling crept on him; he was nervous. When the feeling came, he was upstairs standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom.

That was one of the little things that made Paul smile when he walked through the door.

She hadn't slept on the sofa, that couldn't have been a better sign.

When Alex had stayed here before, she had point blank refused the guest room and even suggested she could sleep in the woods rather than be in their company. Everyone had of course refused but the fact was Alex was finally starting to accept them.

Paul peered through the open bedroom door.

Alex was spread out on the double bed lazily, her body tangled in the white sheets protectively covering her except for one of her slender white legs which stuck out of the material.

Gently she breathed out and moved her arm out of the material as well tightly knotting it in her hand without opening her eyes.

Paul regained his strength and opened the door, walking through it he sat at the edge of the bed and smiled widely at his sleeping imprint.

"Paul, I said come over in the morning, not the middle of the night" Alex whispered through a thick sleepy voice, but her one eye peeped open to look at him before closing it again and allowing a smile to play over her lips.

"Yeah well I couldn't wait"

Alex furrowed her brow and snuggled back into her sea of blankets and pillows,

"I'm not going away" Paul said determined to get Alex awake and out of bed as quickly as possible, she'd been in his life for five months, having her as an imprint while she didn't except it was torture, now he was impatient and wanted to start living his life.

Alex peeped open one of her eyes again and made a noise of protest when she saw Paul was determined to get her up, "You know I'm naked under here" she commented, closing her eyes and smiling after she saw Paul's expression.

Paul didn't make a move from where he was, his eyes wandered everywhere though but all he wanted was to get Alex up so they could spend much needed time together.

Alex hit her arms against the mattress before rolling away from her place in the bed. Paul nodded triumphantly when Alex rose and stood up, when she dropped the sheet to the ground a mischievous grin took over her face.

"You were bluffing" Paul stated in disbelief as he took in the sight of her walking away from him in black lace underwear.

"I wanted to see what you would do" Alex answered, looking back over her shoulder and watching him as he got off the bed, crouching slightly as he approached her predatorily.

"Oh really?" Paul asked before racing after Alex who was laughing loudly trying to out run him, "I'll show you what I'll do!"

After breakfast, Alex was no Emily but she did the decent housewife thing and chucked some cereal in two bowls for them both, they phased and decided to spend the day in each other's company; walking and talking, devoting the day to getting to know each other as they should.

'So how did you come back?..I know you said it was Seth but tell me the details' Paul asked, leaping over a ditch in the ground with unneeded force. Alex followed him, tittering down the hill delicately and up to his shoulder.

Rather than explaining it, Alex showed him, allowing the colourful images to explain for her.

She was riding Chief when Seth found her, racing him over the beautiful green flat terrain that surrounded her quaint home. Alex wasn't concentrating; her mind was focusing on what had happened over the past few months. It didn't bother her that Chief was galloping wildly over the land and she was holding only onto a small tuft of his mane with no saddle or bridle as aids.

Suddenly Chief's loud whinny pulled her from her thoughts, making Alex hold tighter onto his mane as something ahead made him rear up dangerously. When the horse landed harshly Alex saw the cause of the problem and dismounted easily.

Seth was in front of her as a wolf, Chief began to paw angrily at the floor and attempted to march over to him until Alex stroked his head calmingly.

"What are you doing here Seth?" Alex asked him exasperatedly, she ran a hand through her auburn hair shakily. Things were not great right now, being back in her homeland hadn't made everything as black and white as Alex expected it to be.

"Sam and Emily are getting married in a week…I think you should come bac-" Alex noted internally the changes in him when her old acquaintance phased back to his normal human self; Seth had grown, his muscles slightly more defined, and he was taller.

"Don't Seth, please" Alex said sternly, turning her attention back to her horse.

Seth's brow furrowed together angrily, and in his temper he closed the distance between them quickly. "They looked out for you for two months when you needed help!"

Chief got defensive then, his ears flickered back dangerously when he notice the change in Seth's temper and he whined angrily, attempting to push in front of Alex and defend her against this stranger.

"Eh!" Alex scolded him, wrapping her hand around his muzzle restraining him. When he calmed down she sent him away with whispered Welsh words Seth did not understand. A sigh escaped Alex's mouth and she hid her eyes from him,

"I know, I know, I've screwed everything up" She said teary,

"So come back and sort it out" Seth said more softly this time, stepping backwards as Alex straightened up, wiping the moisture from her cheek furiously.

Both of them phased then, Alex because she wanted to run for a bit and Seth so he could tune into her thoughts directly. When she wouldn't answer him, Seth started to flicker images of how people had argued over her and Paul's reaction to her departure.

Alex froze and unwillingly let her own memories of what life had been like without the Cullen's or Quileute's back in Wales; it wasn't good. Seth flinched at one particular memory that Alex had let slip. It was a fight between her and Josh when he had caught Alex's thoughts straying back to La Push, to cut a long story short, the boy had one and she had left the fight with a nasty laceration across her collar bone.

Paul's anger as he viewed the memories distracted her concentration and she turned her focus back onto her companion quickly. Craning upwards Alex gave the side of his face a lick comfortingly,

'Calm down, its fine… When she saw Paul relax into her side, she continued but rather than reliving it, she spoke it. 'Long and short of it is, Seth brought me to my senses. I sent Seth home before I left as well; I obviously needed to tell Zeus, Josh, make arrangements for Chief and the house and then pack up a bag'

'How did your brother take it?' Paul questioned as they both picked up the pace a little, jogging side by side through the wilderness.

'It could have been better' Alex said vaguely. The truth of it was that Zeus had been furious at her leaving, she was family and family were meant to stick together, but in his mind she was throwing it all away on the chance of some 'friendly foreign puppies' as he put it.

'But he knows what imprinting does so I can imagine he'll come around in time. Anger issues run deep in my family…in case you hadn't guessed' Alex laughed, and nudged Paul with her nose, teasing him into a race. Paul may have been stronger and physically larger than her, but when it came to speed that was what Alex was built for.

Finally though, after a lot of talk competitive talk Paul caught her and pinned her to the floor easily.

'So, you're staying in La Push? With the pack…and me forever?' He nervously asked Alex who groaned at his persistence in talking about all the 'heavy' stuff.

'Yes Paul, I'm prepared to give imprinting a shot and see what we make of it, besides that, I happen to like it here'

Paul barked happily and let her up before side by side they continued their walk, weaving and twisting their tails together like humans held hands.

'Unless you fancy living in Wales in the near future?' Alex taunted, laughing as she said it and amplifying the sound when she saw Paul's baffled, shocked face.

'Kidding!' She added.


	20. I'm Not Menopausal

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty: I'm Not Menopausal 

Despite Sam being away apparently his house was still the base for all wolf situations, so having all the pack there didn't bother Alex. What did bother her though was when Quil and Embry naturally assumed her temper had vanished now she was all loved up with Paul.

Naturally they found out their mistake when they tried to wake her up; creeping into her room upstairs and shouting blue murder. Paul, who was sat on the sofa downstairs held up three fingers at Jared and consecutively put them down while mouthing,

"Three, two, one"

As his last finger fell, Jared winced,

"GET OUT!" Alex's voice bellowed out, followed by two sets of footsteps launching down the stairs loudly. Both of them stopped when they got to the bottom, panting deeply with wide eyes,

"Your girlfriend is scary" Embry directed at Paul before stalking over to the kitchen and raiding the cupboards, Quil followed him.

Paul laughed and threw the orange he was attempting to juggle at them before furrowing his brow with thought. Could they be considered a couple now? They hadn't really said it in words, but actions always spoke louder than words and Alex had just moved countries, changed her whole life for him. A smile came over Paul's face when he decided that yes, they definitely could be considered a couple now.

His smile grew when he spotted Alex puffy haired, a tired expression on her face as she sleepily made her way downstairs wrapped up in her duvet like a cocoon. Marching over to the sofa, she collapsed next to Paul with a sigh.

"Doesn't anybody like sleep around here? The hell is wrong with you all?" Alex brought the duvet up over her face and nestled into Paul's shoulder, he stretched his arm out and brought her closer to him.

"You're on patrol today Socks" Jared said cautiously watching her head as it popped out from under the blanket and stared at him with her head cocked to the side. Jared and Paul had taken up shared responsibility of the alpha role while Sam was on honeymoon, but it definitely wasn't Alex's turn for patrol today. She would have remembered…probably.

"Me and Paul are snowed under at work, Embry can't, Quil can't, Seth is on his college trip and Jacob has to help his father today" Jared explained when she asked why.

"So it's just me on patrol?" she asked with a yawn, when Jared didn't answer her, Alex looked at Paul who was avoiding her gaze to look at the telly which had just flickered on. When sleep left her brain, making her more alert, Alex suddenly realized who else was on patrol.

The duvet fell to the floor as Alex jumped up, "Oh no! No, no, no, no – It's not happening"

Jared held his hands up in surrender to her tirade, but there was no getting out of it, one wolf could patrol on their own, that would be dangerous. No, it had to be two.

Alex put her hand to her head as she tried to calm down, Sam had known it was a bad idea to put them on patrol together, and luckily the situation where they had to patrol together had never come up.

Just their luck for it to happen without Sam here as alpha to order them not to maim or seriously injure each other.

"I'm not exactly thrilled about it either Stray" Leah walked into the house and leaned on the door with a taunting smirk as she watched Alex's face get angrier when she heard the nickname she hated being used.

"Just for you two to know" Alex made her finger point at Jared and Paul in turn, "This can only end badly, and when she comes back tonight missing an arm or a leg, I'm gonna tell Sam exactly who put us on shift together"

Leah snorted at Alex's remark, but watched her with wary eyes when she made to put up her thick hair and walk past her. "Don't count on me being the one to come back with an injury Princess"

Paul and Jared leaned forward ready to intervene as Alex drew level with Leah, and raised her chin challengingly "Don't forget what happened last time you tried to _injure _me Petal, this time there's no other wolves to stop me"

Alex's voice was dangerously low and threatening, but it had the desired effect when Leah pushed herself off the door frame and phased to go on the patrol shift. Nodding, Alex walked back into the living room smiling,

"Well I'm off to spend my day with Satan reincarnated, good day to you" said Alex with false enthusiasm, giving Paul a quick kiss and throwing the remote at Embry and Quil when they wolf whistled at them childishly.

Jared pointed at the door when Alex had left, "That is going to end so bad" he said with an exasperated sigh,

'Come back Sam all is forgiven' Paul thought. Who knew they needed the alpha so badly? Paul pushed it out of mind and went off to get ready for work, he hoped and prayed nothing too bad would happen though.

'I'm hungry' Alex thought as she patrolled aimlessly around the border, the smell from one of the fast food places caressed her nose and ignited growls from her empty stomach. Only an hour till the shift finished though, so far the two female wolves managed to avoid each other. Patrolling separate areas of La Push they had miraculously made it six hours with only snide comments, and petty bickering.

'Yes well isn't **that **a change' Leah commented snidely as she watched Alex from a few yards ahead on higher ground.

'I am in no mood to deal with you and your stupid black cloud of an attitude'

'Another ground-breaking change for the books' Leah spat back sarcastically as she hopped off the small stone platform and trotted around, sniffing the air for any vampire scents.

'This is the wrong time of the month to be getting on my nerves kid' Alex growled out, trying to get Leah, the annoying creature as she was to take the hint and back off before Alex took a chunk out of her.

Unease ran through Alex as the wolf in front of her froze and looked up at her shocked, the shackles on Alex's neck rose up subconsciously,

'What?' Alex asked her, searching for the reason Leah would react so weirdly to her statement. Suddenly, without asking, Leah sprang forward and launched herself at Alex.

'That meant to be a joke Princess' she snarled out, Leah's own shackles were raised and the two were now circling each other waiting for the other to make the first attacking move.

'What did your precious new imprint tell you?' Leah searched desperately. Being a wolf, you had no privacy whatsoever, maybe Leah's worried thoughts had slipped when she was patrolling with one of the boys accidentally. Why else would Alex make a comment like that?

'I think you have completely lost your mind Leah' Alex said, raising her lip over her dangerous teeth with a lowly growl as she continued to circle Leah, snapping her jaws every once in a while.

That's when the fabric of Leah's temper frayed and instantly Alex had to counter Leah's heavy clawed paw as it came down on her face. Alex used her weight to her advantage and pushed Leah off her while snapping at her neck viciously. Once again Alex was fighting to control the red haze that seeped into her pores and was moving her muscles for her.

A small tree snapped in two like a tooth pick as the wrestling pair crashed into it, Leah once again finding herself in a losing battle when Alex's jaws closed around her neck.

In such a vulnerable position, Leah's thoughts slipped out from her guard.

Alex watched the memories as she saw Leah worriedly pacing in her bathroom, a calendar on the wall with a little red cross on one date and an unopened box of tampons in her right hand which hung lazily at her side. The other hand was in her mouth, its nails being ravaged by Leah's teeth as she chewed them mercilessly. As the Leah in the memory angrily punched the wall, wolf Leah realised Alex's grip had released slightly. Her opponent distracted, Leah pushed her off and raked a paw out, catching Alex straight on the chest and slicing the surface of skin hidden under her coat.

With that, an embarrassed Leah took off, jumping over the boundary and away from the person who had intruded on such a personal memory.

'Holy shit' That two word sentence summed up how Alex felt, quickly she phased back and jogged back to Sam's house where Paul would undoubtedly be waiting now that he had finished work. Alex pulled on the vest she stashed in the trees and looked at the nasty laceration which ran from her collar bone right to her chest.

Wolf genes really were something though; the cut was slowly starting to stop bleeding as badly as it did when it first happened.

Paul rushed over to her when his eyes spotted the blood on her chest, Alex shooed away the fuss he was making and put her hands on her hips thoughtfully. She was trying to make sense of the situation.

"Did you know that Leah doesn't have periods anymore" Alex asked Paul, ignoring his 'Are you alright?' and 'What happened?' inquisition.

"Oh come on, don't get all shy now" she added when Paul's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink at the question.

"Um…Sam might have told us it could happen" He explained, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

'Fantastic' Alex thought with a sigh. How on Earth was she supposed to know that? 'Nobody tell me then, I'll just deal with the angry, psycho wolf when I talk about my own womanly needs!' she yelled internally.

"So…does this mean you still hav-?"

"Paul, I'm a werewolf not menopausal"


	21. Boosh!

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty One: Boosh! 

Paul was smirking behind Jared. The co alpha had arrived after being summoned by him after Alex had told him what had happened with Leah. Now Jared was doing his best Sam impression has he interrogated Alex while Paul chuckled behind him, amused by Alex's answers as well as Jared.

"Okay, so you and Leah were talking?"

"Yes" Alex aimlessly droned her fingers on the wooden arm of the chair she was in, shooting Paul a pleading look before sighing and sounding out what happened.

"I was sat down. She started to be her usual annoying self. So I said this is the wrong time of the month to be getting on my nerves. She went mad. Let slip a memory of her waiting for her period. I let her go, got a razorblade claw down my chest. Now she's gone"

Jared held the bridge of his nose, "So you still have those…that ti-"

"Periods Jared? Yes, Christ it's not a swear word" Alex collapsed into the back of the sofa and turned over so her face was embedded into the soft cushions.

"So now she's run away because she doesn't get…those…and you do?"

"Apparently so" The cushion muffled her voice, but Jared distinguished the words easily before turning to Paul who was blocking the sniggers coming from his mouth by biting down on his thumb knuckle. When Paul met Jared's eyes he couldn't hold them anymore and doubled over with loud laughter.

"It's not funny!" Jared shouted as he looked between the pair. Alex has started her own small cushion muffled chuckles which made her body shake.

As the pair died down Jared flicked his finger out to Alex, "I think you should go after her and talk to her"

Alex sat up and walked over to Paul with a thoughtful expression on her face as she took her place at his side. "Why, cause we're such good friends and I'll convince her to come back?" Sarcasm laced her words.

"No, because you're the only other girl wolf here and it's the right thing to do"

"You have to admit, he has a point babe. I mean you've been a wolf a lot longer than her, give her some advice or something"

"You want me to go and have _the talk _with Leah?" Alex asked incredulously, there was only one way that conversation would go. "She's probably already halfway through Canada anyway" Paul gave her stern stare,

"No, have _any _talk with her" He stated, before rubbing her forearm comfortingly and looking down on Alex with a smirk. "Besides, I thought you were meant to be fast" he added.

Jared folded his arms and smiled when Alex let her head drop with a dramatic sight before looking up again,

"I am way too easy to persuade" she stated before marching out of the door, waving her goodbyes without even looking back and then phasing quickly, launching into the woods for cover.

Speed was Alex's main forte so when she got to the border, picking up Leah's scent and distinguishing which direction she was travelling in was the main difficulty. Closing her eyes, Alex stretched her neck as high as she could, inhaling slowly and deeply to place Leah's scent away from the other usual scents.

When separate notes of the familiar smell compiled together, Alex sprang over the boundary easily and pelted her legs forward. For a while, the thrill of running as fast as she could took over and the purpose of her journey was pushed to one side.

Though, as Alex launched through a small river, sending splashes of cool water over her, the scent came again stronger than ever. With her wolf vision, Alex made out Leah's shape ahead and the bond between them linked once again as the distance closed.

In a second, Alex had caught up with her and was running at her side. The wolf next to her wasn't happy though, it snapped at her shoulder and pealed away in the opposing direction to try and shake Alex off.

'Leah would you chill out, I'm trying to talk to you'

'You really should take a hint Cupcake' Leah snarled out, threating Alex.

'Like it or not, I'm the only girl wolf out there so like me or not-'

'I don't' Leah interrupted rudely. Alex gritted her teeth with impatience; obviously Leah was a sucker for punishment when it came to pissing Alex off.

'Like me or not-' Alex continued to hold her patience, growled lowly, crouching down as she ran in case Leah got nasty again. 'I'm the only person out there who has any idea of what you're going through'

Leah got quiet then, and though she didn't stop running, her pace slowed noticeably until they were both at a steady jog.

'So you really didn't know?' Leah said quietly

'Honest mistake' Alex said truthfully, 'If it makes you feel any better, _mine _didn't start back up until about five months when I first phased…I don't think human bodies are meant to spontaneously combust into wolves'

It was slightly awkward between them, but the tension eased slightly when Leah laughed lightly at what Alex said. Apparently despite being easy to persuade people, Alex was also able to persuade people easily.

'I am the epitome of ying and yang' Alex commented to that thought with pride, guarding it from Leah as they turned around and slowly headed back for La Push. Wouldn't want her running off again.

'So when did you first change?'

The question shocked Alex and for a minute her mind went completely blank before she stuttered out a response, 'I was seventeen, I think I turned a week after my birthday now that I think about it'

Leah nodded her wolf head and trotted forward, breaking out of the walk they settled into, Alex remained slow paced but then sprang forward as Leah's voice challenged her mentally.

'Hey Princess, what's the bets I beat you back to Sam's house'

'Slim to none' Alex stated with confidence,

'Loser has to take the others patrol shifts for a week'

Alex lengthened her stride easily pulling away and leaving Leah behind her,

'Bring it on Cupcake!' Alex shouted back at her, launching through the freezing river for the second time to enjoy the icy water while Leah sprang over it, keeping her fur perfectly dry.

Alex phased back and pulled on some clothes before jogging into the house, wringing out her auburn hair as she did.

"You have any patrol shifts this week Darling?" Alex said with a wide smile, but panting deeply. Paul stood up from the sofa and walked over to Alex,

"No" he said.

"Boosh!" Alex jumped from her place on the floor and bumped chests with a shocked Paul just standing there confused,

"You have five shifts this week"

"Not anymore I don't" Alex stated as she jogged into the kitchen while Leah made an appearance in her place, Paul looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

Quickly Alex found and retrieved a chocolate bar from the cupboard before she noticed Leah's arrival and retrieved another, throwing it at her follower gently.

"Okay what is going on?" Paul watched Alex as she came back over to him,

"Remember my supposed speed skills?" She questioned, craning up to Paul's face teasingly as she chewed on the chocolate before continuing, "Well they just got me out of those five patrol shifts…Isn't that right Leah?"

"I still think you cheated" Leah said, ripping open the chocolate wrapper and turning on her heel back out of the door.

"So you're free all week?" Paul asked with a smirk.

When Alex nodded he laughed and picked her up around the waist, lifting her up high as she laughed as well.


	22. Tits and Ass

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Two: Tits and Ass

The week that Alex and Paul had off together couldn't have gone better, the pair were joined at the hip and their relationship had become a lot stronger.

"What is it with you constantly picking me up?" Alex asked as she touched foreheads with Paul who held her strongly in his arms, refusing to put her down.

"So I can do this!" Paul said dramatically before extending his arms fully, throwing Alex into the air, catching her again so his arms folded underneath her. Auburn hair cascaded around his face, but the wolf didn't hesitate in seeking out Alex's lip passionately.

"You're like some weirdo, horny gymnast" Alex laughed before freeing herself and walking into the kitchen while Paul launched heavily into the sofa, flicking on the telly before paying more attention to Alex than the soap opera.

When the toaster made a popping noise, proclaiming its contents ready, Alex hopped over to it and without hesitation plucked out the food. Apparently she had forgotten that toasters make food hot. When the bagel was in her grip she threw it instantly from one hand to the other to stop the heat scorching her skin,

"Ow ow ow son of a bitch, mother fuck!" She cursed before slamming the food onto a plate like a football player scoring a touchdown. The curses didn't bother Paul, it was who Alex was, and he was no angel when it came to language either. It just made him smile more.

A pang of hunger shot through Alex's stomach when the concentration of preparing the food was over and it was ready made in front of her. With a mouthful of ham and cheese bagel Alex sat next to Paul and held up the snack for him to take a bite out of.

"Sharing food?" A voice narrated in disbelief. Alex and Paul looked up and both beamed when they saw who it was, the figure put their hand animatedly to their eye and pretended to wipe away a tear of joy. "You really are imprints"

"Sammy!" Alex raised her hand in recognition before quickly devouring the rest of her snack and running at the alpha to envelope him in a huge hug that, if he hadn't been of the supernatural species, would have knocked him off his feet.

"Emily!" She shouted as the woman followed her husband back into their home.

"Paul!" Shouted Sam sarcastically

"Sam!" Emily shouted

"Alex!" Paul added

"Emily!" Sam laughed

"Ok, enough with the emotional reunion" Silenced another voice whose owner jogged into the group, "You're gonna make me cry" It said sarcastically.

"Jared!" Everyone shouted in unison, mocking the wolf that joined them.

"Alex why is it every time I see you, you're always semi naked?" Sam asked her with a raised eyebrow as he cast his eyes over Alex's appearance. Alex looked down at herself, she clutched at the bottom of the t-shirt, pulling the material to the side and inspected the lower half of her body which was bare. She was wearing the shirt as a dress. It was Paul's.

"I have a T-shirt on! This is practically covered up for me. If I had my own house, I'd be naked twenty-four seven" Alex argued before adding, "There'd be tits and ass everywhere"

Alex erupted into laughter when she saw everyone's faces, ranging from bemused to shocked.

"Home Sweet Home eh?" Sam said, starting his own booming laughter and triggering everyone else's.

A few hours later Paul and Alex were walking through the forest in their wolf forms, the two decided to give Leah and Seth the break from their patrol shift. Giving the two a chance to go and see the newly arrived, married couple.

'Where are you gonna stay now Sam and Emily are back' Paul's silver wolf paused at that sudden thought, Alex turned back around and jogged back up to him.

'Shit, I forgot about that' Alex said mentally before brushing it off, 'Meh I'll just take more patrols and kip in the woods till I sort out my finances and such – No big deal. Come on I wanna run'

'Why don't you stay with me?' Paul blurted out before he could control the thought that had instantly come to his mind. Turning back around Alex cocked her head to look at him and trotted forward slightly more.

'Stay? With you?'

Over the course of the time they spent together, Alex knew Paul lived alone. His parents passed away and he was an only child, he used the money from their will to buy the house; no mortgage, no debts, it was a good situation despite Paul's obvious shattering loss.

'Yeah' Paul ducked his head to look at the floor, flicking his eyes up to judge the wolf's in front of him expression, if he could. Remaining impassive Alex closed off her thoughts and considered the offer. Normally, she would run a mile at any sign of commitment but with Paul it was different. Whether it was the effect of the imprint or Paul himself, Alex felt relaxed and pulled to him whatever distance she was from him.

It took a lot, Paul even made to walk away, but Alex stopped him, biting his ear to pull him back and letting the guard around her thoughts to fall away.

'Wait Paul!' She prevented him from leaving. Taking a deep sigh she calmed down and took a chance at acting the grown up for once, 'You have to carry my stuff' Alex commented with a grin, knowing the trip to Paul's house from Sam's was only a short distance.

Paul was elated and his wolf tail began to wag to and fro manically while his tongue lolled out of his mouth childishly.

'Really?' He questioned in disbelief.

'You've convinced me hothead, now let's go there could be _vampires_ out there' She whispered quietly and sarcastically before lashing around, pounding her feet into the ground as she raced away laughing.

'Does this mean there's gonna be tits and ass everywhere?' Paul added hopefully. Alex burst out laughing but ignored his question by continuing her own speech.

'_Vampires will bite your neck and suck your blood!_' Alex recited like a dramatic Shakespearean narrator while avoiding trees and racing through the vast greenery La Push had to offer.


	23. Disney Princess

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Three: Disney Princess

Alex huddled her face into the crook of Paul's neck like a cat while the pair sat in Emily and Sam's house along with the rest of the pack. Gently she moved and kissed his warm neck softly before returning into her sleepy nest,

"Quil, I swear to God if you say one more thing about Claire I am going to punch you" Alex murmured with her eyes shut. The wolf instantly stopped yapping on about his younger imprint and gave Alex a pointed look.

"Oh yes, I'll shut up…as long as you and Paul stop sucking each other's faces off every second" Quil shouted with angry sarcasm which made Alex wrinkle her face in distaste at the loud noise.

"It's called kissing Quil and maybe one day you'll get to see what that's like when your imprint is not in preschool" Paul stated while his hand squeezed Alex closer to him.

Alex snorted at Paul's remark, she opened her eyes to look at his face. Quil was looking like he wanted to dive at Paul, but Paul's expression made it perfectly clear that if he did then he would happily rip his head off.

A hand rested on Paul's chest cooling the tremors which had started up across his chest,

"Chill out – Sam is there a particular reason that I'm awake at this hour on a Saturday morning, and not in bed?"

"Yes – We're all here because of you Socks" Sam stated as he leaned on the kitchen counter, "…and it's eleven in the morning, not exactly dawn"

"Yes but it's _Saturday_, I'm sure all you Quilt folk are as sleep orientated as the blood bags we're genetically programmed to tear up and eat and wha-"

"We thought you could get the mark…if you wanted it" Sam stated, cutting Alex's rant off and getting straight to the point. Under the groups gaze, Alex shut her mouth and looked at the alpha with a vacant, wide eyed expression. When Paul looked down to judge her reaction, Alex moved simultaneously to meet his stare.

Reassured by Paul's smile, Alex shuddered out a breathe.

"You want me…to be a Quilt?" asked Alex incredulously, feeling Paul's hand give her own a squeeze.

The entire wolf pack covered their eyes in exasperation at Alex's constant nickname for the tribe. With a smile Sam nodded his head,

"Only if you want to be" Paul added, thinking that the conversation needed to be balanced, despite the fact he really wanted her to feel integrated into the tribe.

"I already have a mark though" Alex commented more to herself than any of the people who were looking at her. Pressure was made onto the tattoo she was mentioning, Paul's thumb stroked the exact spot it was beneath the material of her jeans.

Obviously Paul has seen the tattoo, and with Alex's love of exhibition, a lot of the pack had as well. The mark wasn't anything major, nothing overly extravagant or huge. The tattoo was Welsh, obviously, each of the Celtic markings flowing together in a small, neat, circle that etched into her hip bone discreetly.

"They're your old family" Embry said with a smile that was intended to reassure, but it caused a whirlwind of thought to go off inside Alex's monologue.

Zeus? Josh? All the others? Were they just a chapter in her life that had now been ended? Had the eighteen years before she even knew La Push existed meant to be forgotten? Eighteen years of memories wasted and cast aside. All because of imprinting.

In that instant familiar red haze clouded over Alex's pupils. Her hand closed together tightly into a fist, Paul stiffened in his seat as he felt the tension fire through Alex's muscles.

"They are not my _old_ family" She sounded out dangerously before slowly standing from her seat and lashing around to leave the house, controlling her anger enough so she didn't burst into a wolf nor cause a fight with her own pack brother.

"Are you serious?" Someone shouted at her incredulously while snapping out their arm to grip Alex's own and pull her back.

Paul had launched after her to question the outburst.

"Why because I want to keep my _old _family in mind?" Alex spat back at him, "Because I don't to be a pretend Quileute? What do you want me to say?"

"I've seen some of your memories Alex, from what I've seen you're better off without them" Paul said without thinking, his mind only focussing on one or two memories Alex had slipped when her and Josh or Zeus were fighting.

"You didn't see it all!" Alex defended stubbornly, trying to pull away from Paul's grip several times before succeeding after the third vigorous attempt.

"That's because you don't share anything! You don't tell anybody anything about your past" Paul was getting angrier now, his face contorting with anger as the ugly words twisted and spat from his lips. "I'm your imprint, but you _still _pick and choose what to show me of your life before all this! I don't even know about the stupid pack you were in!"

Alex buttoned her lip. The angrier Paul became, the quieter Alex got. Even though they were imprints, and Alex knew Paul wouldn't intentionally hurt her, when his temper got control of him it was extremely unsettling to watch.

Especially when all the focus of his anger was her.

"Why should I feel like I have to explain every millimetre of my life to you Paul. I'm not writing and autobiography, I don't want to tell you what cake I had for my eleventh birthday or what Disney princess I dressed up as for a friend's fifth birthday party" Alex said, using her hands to enhance the words of her speech. When she was done though, her arms folded protectively around her chest moving rhythmically up and down in time with her deep breaths.

"Don't be so sarcastic, it's really not clever at all"

Pushing past her, Paul launched forward with dogged steps and made his way towards the forest angrily.

"And you were Ariel the fucking mermaid!" He shouted back over his shoulder before changing into his silver wolf and pelting out of sight, picking up a lot of speed on the flat ground.

Shaking slightly Alex watched him go, her arms still folded over her chest, but her shaky breaths made them tremble in place. A huge sigh escaped her lips, followed by a groan of agitation as she spun on her heel and marching in the opposing direction.

Delicately her hand rested on her hip and touched the black ink on her skin which remained covered by her light blouse Emily had gotten her in Port Angelos a while ago.

From the steps of Sam and Emily's house, a figure made to intercept her. However Alex easily dodged out of their way and cut them off before they could muster up a sarcastic remark to greet her with, as most of the boys did when Paul and she had smaller insignificant arguments.

"Shut your mouth Quil"

The young boy held his hands up as surrender, allowing Alex to go past with no conversation. He watched her march away angrily and looked behind him as someone else made their way down the steps to go home.

"Nice girl, baaaad anger problems"

Quil nodded in agreement before jogging in the direction of his house, which luckily wasn't in the direction of Paul or Alex.


	24. Home Sick

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Four: Home Sick

Since Paul and Alex's argument, both of them stayed out until late evening. Now living at Paul's house made the pair unable to escape each other. Alex didn't want to give Paul any other reason to upset Paul, so staying out in the woods and wolfing it up didn't even cross her mind as she walked back into the small house.

It was quiet when she entered, too quiet for Paul to be here, no doubt the xbox would be roaring the moment he plonked down heavily on the sofa. Alex had hoped he would be home when she got here, now it would be her waiting like a doting housewife for him to come home. Not her style.

With little grace Alex fell into the plump, comfortable sofa and sat there for a moment allowing her thoughts to rampage about her head randomly.

It was so lovely for the pack to offer her the mark, but when Embry referred to the Welsh pack as her old family it sparked up controversy in her head. Alex wasn't about to forget those people that had been in her life for eighteen years. Even though she had left them for Paul, they weren't going to be forgotten, Alex even hoped to get back in touch with them – once the dust had settled. How could she do that when everyone wanted her to disregard the other people in her life?

She would have thought Paul would have stuck up for as well. Obviously he wanted her become an adopted American, no way in hell that was going to happen. Alex was Welsh.

'_The big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, awooo, the big bad wolf…'_

Feeling vibrations in her pocket and an unfamiliar song that started up loudly, Alex smiled wildly. Jacob had a thing for stealing her phone and changing her ringtone. The others would sometimes join in but Jacob considered it a sport.

As she squeezed her phone out of the tight blue jeans she was wearing, the smile at the ironic ringtone vanished and a deep scowl replaced it when the name on the screen flashed continuously in tune with the song.

Josh.

The thought of speaking to someone from home made Alex press the accept call button after several moments of consideration. How could she ignore it? The argument had obviously triggered her homesickness, all she wanted was some comfort, and the one person nature assigned to that job was ignoring her.

"Hello?" said the voice of the person on the other end of the phone; Alex shook herself quickly and was pulled from her monologue.

"What do you want?" Alex whispered after pause.

"Just checking to see you're still playing happy families" Josh bitterly whipped out without a thought, the tone of his voice made Alex wince.

"That all?"

Josh paused and the silence on the other end of the phone started to irritate Alex.

"Stop messing around Josh" She demanded threateningly, but her harsh tone was forgotten when the front door slammed shut and in walked a very unhappy Paul.

He stood in the door frame, watching Alex with a n angry stare as her mouth popped open while she sat staring back at him. Josh had begun to talk again though, and the content of his words made Alex rewind her attention back the phone call.

"What?" She questioned in astonishment as though she had misheard him.

A sigh of irritation came down the speaker, "I _said _that they're back, Craig and your Dad are due back tomorrow and I thought I'd warn you before Zeus tells them all about your little adventures and a rescue party is sent out for you"

"Bu-"

The dial tone cut Alex off and she stared at her phone angrily for a moment before standing up and slowly making her way over to Paul who had kept the look of losing a pound and finding a penny the entire time he stood watching her.

"So this is gonna be the second time you run off to Wales never to return again?" Paul stated, looking her harshly in the eye and making her shrink under his gaze. Regaining the sense of confidence she had embedded into her being, Alex raised her head defiantly.

"If I want to go back I will, and I might stay there and never return – you're so right" The words between the pair started to get more heated, "Because you've made it quite clear I can't have any life outside you and your little bubble of Quilts"

Paul smashed his jaw together, rigidly he sounded out, "I never said that"

"You implied it" Stated Alex, she turned around and hid her face from Paul, she walked away through to the kitchen and made for the back door robotically.

Footsteps only made towards her as she began opening the backdoor, as her hand opened it another larger force slammed it shut. Paul rested his weight on the door, leaning on his strong hand complacently.

"So I'm gonna be kept here now, like a prison?"

"If necessary"

Alex held the bridge of her nose in exasperation, closing her eyes to get Paul's determined expression out of her vision.

"I didn't call him" Alex raised her voice and opened her eyes to enforce her anger.

Paul nodded slowly and released his force on the door, moving to his full height Paul ran his hands through his hair dramatically.

Sighing Alex turned away from him and walked back into the living room.

"I'm sleeping on the sofa" she said before collapsing into her bed for the night and ignoring Paul as he stood watching her for several moments before moving slowly away.

When Alex woke up the next day Paul wasn't there and a forceful knock was emitting from the front door. Thinking the worst Alex launched from her slumber and threw herself to the front door.

Quil was there mid pose ready to knock again; obviously Alex's lion like puff of hair stunned him into statue mode. When she saw who was at the door immediate relaxation took over Alex's body language. Of course they wouldn't have arrived by now, heck, they wouldn't even be in Wales by now.

"I need a favour" The visitor said softly.

Alex's ears perked up as she wondered what she could possibly do for Quil, a small figure poked from behind Quil's frame before darting into hiding again.

Question answered.

"Baby sitting?" Alex asked as she closed her eyes and ran a hand through her messy hair as she yawned.

"It's only because I thought I had no school today, so I offered to have her for the day, but then Embry text me saying that Mr Johnson said that if I miss another day of school that a letter would be issued an-"

"Ok, just stop talking. I'm not busy today anyway"

A smile took over Quil's face as he stepped to one side, revealing a quite toddler whose curly hair hung in tendrils over her face. A small clench grabbed Alex's heart when as Claire shyly ducked her pudgy face and struck her thumb in to her mouth for comfort.

When Quil had left and Alex was appropriately dressed to be looking after a child, both girls sat on the sofa. While Claire haphazardly hit the remote buttons, Alex couldn't help but think about Paul.

'I hope she gets that remote sticky' Alex thought playfully, Paul was such a weirdo when it came to things being sticky. She began to worry though, no matter if he was on patrol, work or had the day off, they would always share their mornings together.

"You up for a walk Princess?" Alex asked the young girl with smile.

Claire struck out her hand to hold Alex's and nodded her head enthusiastically before pulling Alex from her seat and out of the front door. In the overwhelmingly green forest, Alex held Claire's hand, protectively holding her in place if she tripped or stumbled. Her eyes darted around though, searching to see if any grey wolves sought them out.

"When Qwil back?"

"Um, in a few hours I think but, I think he told me that you have a favourite drink…now what did he say it was?" Alex put her finger animatedly to her chin in mock thought.

"Strawberry milkshake?" Alex pondered, the young girl responded with a disgusted face and dramatic shake of the head in response though. Alex laughed, "No, I remember, chocolate milkshake"

Claire beamed at Alex as though she was some sort of wizard before clapping her hands together excitedly, "Yes definitely chocolate" she confirmed to herself.

"I think we should grab two of those and maybe a cheeseburger before he comes home"

"Yes" Claire spoke with such determination that Alex's smile grew.

As they exited the forest and moved into a more open meadow, Alex froze, something wasn't right. The hand she had been holding Claire in was empty as the young child bent down to inspect a bumblebee that hummed over a bright yellow flower hypnotically.

Definitely not right. There was a familiar smell here, a very familiar one that reeked into Alex's senses dangerously. That smell meant one thing and one thing only, trouble.

"Hello Petal"


	25. You Lose

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Five: You Lose

That greeting didn't seem real. Alex instantly recognised the voice that made her blood freeze over and breath hitch in her mouth. What was he doing here?

Not showing any of her inner turmoil made Felix give a little chuckle, she had been exactly the same when in the Volturi's _care_, not showing any emotion. It made her a very formidable enemy; being a challenge to be read made her unpredictable, and dangerous.

Felix rolled his shoulder slightly and made to move towards her, but when Alex's stance crouched slightly into a defensive pose, he simply cocked his head with a smirk. Proceeding forward very slowly towards her, Felix's words danced around her and massaged her skin hypnotizing and lethal.

"What's the matter? Not pleased to see m-"

A slight breeze blew through the air and the vampire halted abruptly.

Alex lashed her head to see what it was that had caused Felix to change his focus from her, that was a very rare thing. Part of Alex's heart crumpled in her chest, as though an unseen fist was embracing it tightly. Claire was a few paces away from her, staring awestruck at Felix while holding the previously soil bound yellow flower that still had a bulbous bumblebee humming a dance around the petals.

Rigidly both Felix and Alex looked at each other simultaneously.

When black pools diluted the otherwise blood red of Felix's eye, Alex snapped into action and turned to Claire.

"Claire, you know where Uncle Paul works?" Alex's voice remained calm but the baritone behind the chords were strained and panicked. Slowly Alex watched Felix while speaking; as he moved like a frame by frame movie, so slow but calculating, she did the same, trying to get infront of the young child and keep her safe.

"I need you to go there, as fast as you can. Don't stop for anyone"

As soon as Alex's mouth formed the last letter of the word, Felix came to life. He darted, directly at Claire with the speed all of his species possessed making her subsequently scream out in terror. The pale attacker didn't get very far though, still human Alex launched at him and brought him to the floor.

As Alex pinned Felix to the floor she called back to Claire who hadn't made any motion to leave yet.

"It's okay Claire…I'm fine – Go!" She shouted as her arms and legs fought to restrain her superior opponent in vain.

Claire thankfully sped from sight after a moment, when she did, Felix broke free and turned on Alex who was panting heavily. Like a dance partner, he caught her wrist in a vice grip and spun her around dramatically till her back faced him and her body was encased by his strong arms.

"Maternal all of a sudden?"

Alex groaned from her prison and bit her lip harshly to stop any sound or conversation to be started up. All she wanted was to be left alone – even Paul had figured that out before her and thrown in the towel undoubtedly.

"I think I've broke through this little barrier of yours, I really do. Before we'd fight and fight and you wouldn't care about anything. Now-" Felix made a tutting sound and planted his face into the crook of her neck, smelling it loudly and using his free hand to pull the curtain of auburn tresses.

"All I have to do is hold you and you turn into a little puppy. Things not working out with lover boy? Ahh that's it! The wolf is the cause of it, no fear Pet, you can come back to Italy and we can catch up where we left off"

Illustrating his point, cold hands brought Alex's wrist upwards and with a gentle viciousness, Felix encased his mouth over the centre of her wrist and bit down.

A good façade faded when animal canines plunged into her skin.

A scream pierced the air and Alex cried out as the venom ran through her own veins, weakening the unsurpassed immune system a shape shifting gene had given her. Angrily she pushed Felix away from her and surged forward into her wolf, the silver fur of her left paw was tainted with a deep shade of crimson as the venom refused to allow her wrist to repair itself.

Alex's limp paw made her unable to attack offensively but as soon as Felix darted forward she got her chance and easily side stepped around his frame before enclosing her own mouth around his neck.

Flung away by an arm she continued to try and get the better of the vampire but with an injured leg, it was amazing she was able to retain the defence she had. As she went to dodge another attack, Felix caught her off guard. Suddenly, his arms encased around her torso and as though she was light as a feather, he picked her up and easily chucked her above his head. A harsh rumble shuddered through the ground as she landed heavily.

Alex remained still and didn't move. She couldn't move, even when her wolf alias whispered away and she was back in her human form, she remained lifeless. Felix came forward and circled round her, the vampire looked regretful as he came and inspected her face apprehensively. Like it was a shame he had inflicted that on her – 'Only shame he's thinking about is the fact I didn't break more bones' Alex commented mentally, staring her own green eyes into his crimson ones.

A strange thing happened when Felix opened his mouth, it wasn't his voice that filled the air, it was deep echoing howls. Wolf howls.

Smiling, Alex was able to separate the orchestra and pin point the wolves making the noise. Her enemy vampire looked stumbled a bit before looking back down at Alex who chuckled lightly,

"You lose…again"

As Felix pounded his fist into the ground and made his escape Alex nuzzled her head into the ground like a pillow and closed her eyes. Feeling the tremors in the ground as the wolves paws slammed into the soil and closed the distance between them.

"Socks? You've got to open your eyes Alex, do not fall asleep"

That wasn't a wolves voice, Alex wrinkled her nose in confusion but relaxed again when she remembered that this was Cullen territory and the voice that implored her to remain conscious was a friend. A dear friend who had been absent from her life as of late.

"Alex?" Emmett asked her, all she could do was mumble back; she was exhausted and wanted to sleep without all these voices and loud noises.

"Socks?"

"Is she okay?"

"Come on Princess, don't be such a drama-ow!" Alex was grateful for whoever worked up the courage to silence Leah and smiled as all the wolf's voices came into her head as usual.

A sterner voice silenced them as her demanded, "Alex, open your eyes, _now_"

With protest and difficulty, she did as she was told and found herself staring into Paul's eyes which were darting over every inch of her face with a pained expression that only made Alex close her eyes once more.

"She's ok, thank God"

A growl came from Paul that told Alex he was not happy, not happy at all.

"Her wrist needs stitching, venom is going to have an effect on her healing herself" Carlisle commented. Of course that's the reason Paul was upset, all these vampires around, his imprint getting attacked, his imprint naked in the meadow with everyone watching. No, he definitely would not be in a jolly mood.

Suddenly Alex felt herself being lifted off the ground and shielded from people's eyes against someone. The familiar heat and smell of them told her it was Paul and she worked up enough energy to put both her arms around his neck delicately.

"Anybody would swear a normal life is too much to ask for" Paul said to Jacob while thinking over practically everything he'd ever experienced as he carried Alex to the Cullen's house which was closest.

"Think about it, when you add werewolves, vampires, treaties, Alex, welsh people, imprinting and anger issues – things are never gonna be normal"

Paul nodded solemnly, 'Things were going so well' he thought mentally and for a brief moment he would have done anything to go back to how things were only a few days before.


	26. Man Hug

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Six: Man Hug

When Alex woke up, a cold sweat was forming over her brow, she recognised the sofa she lay in as a furnishing in the Cullen's home. Through the large windows she saw the foggy bank which hugged the black of the night.

Sniffing the air made her know the house was empty, the Cullen's weren't long gong but obviously her visit coincided with their day of hunting. Wolves had been in here as well, Paul's scent was the strongest and she had no doubt he had been sat at her side at one point. Stretching out her legs she noticed someone had dressed her in comfortable grey jogging bottoms and a loose grey top.

Slowly Alex stood up, her legs shook as Alex reached her full height but after steadying herself she began to inspect her body thoroughly. Her wrist had been stitched together and had a light gauze wrapped over it to shield it from infection. Her body was covered in bruises that colourfully stood out against her pale skin.

A breath hitched in her throat as the realisation of the past few days hit her. It was like staring at the purple and yellow wounds made everything darker and scary. Alex was out of her depth.

There was only one thing she did when life's situations made her feel as though she was drowning, one thing instilled into her brain. She needed to take back hold of her comfort blanket. La Push wasn't a comfort blanket, everything there was still new and exciting.

Now, she wanted her normal routine. She was only getting that in one place.

Before Alex realised the rushed decision she made, rhythmic steps began pounding on the Cullen's expensive floor. They were hers and robotically they carried her from the house.

In rare lapse of her emotions, tears began to pour down her cheeks as she pelted away from Forks not even bothering to hide her supernatural speed, the forest would do that for her.

Paul didn't enter her mind, she forced the image of him completely from her mind and focussed utterly on the destination of her homeland.

As the moisture dripped over her features, Alex sobbed to accompany them and, despite scolding herself for the pitiful noises which controlled her throat, she could do nothing to stop them. The whole of her journey, Alex remained like that and didn't pause to catch her breath and think about what she was doing.

Seth walked into the Cullen's house with ease. He didn't feel as 'Super Natural vs Super Natural' as the other wolves in his pack were. When he got there though, deciding to visit during the early morning hours because of his patrol schedule, his heart sank.

Alex was gone.

Taking a deep breath Seth tried to compose himself, 'She would have woken up and gone to Paul' he told himself mentally. Angry Paul had only stayed a certain amount of time at Alex's side, fearing her reaction when she woke up he had left and trusted that their argument could be resolved when she was feeling calmer.

The journey to Paul's house made Seth nervous, Paul was volatile and always had been, when Alex was with him he was calmer but when anything threatened her or their relationship his temper reverted back to its old ways.

Biting his lip, Seth made it to the top step of the porch and hesitated before taking a deep breath and knocking lightly.

A faint grumbling started up before it got louder and finally the source of the complaints opened the door, revealing a tired looking Paul.

"What's the matter?" Paul demanded sleepily.

"Um…is Alex here?" Seth asked.

Paul's demeanour instantly changed and he woke up with an angry frown, "She's at the Cullen's'" he sounded out with greeted teeth.

"She's…She's not there" Seth said, taking a step backwards away from Paul, fearing the reaction he would evoke.

Paul put his hands to his nose and deeply inhaled before dropping to crouch on his knees. Several moments passed by before Paul's temper kicked in, he launched to his feet and took hold of the door aggressively, slamming it shut. The house rumbled from the force.

Locked outside Seth couldn't see what was happening, but the noise inside told him all he needed to know. Inside the house Paul was taken his anger out on everything and anything he could find. Smashes, crashes, clanking and shattering streamed from the residence and Seth did the only thing he could think of.

Phasing, he pierced the air with a howl, raising the alarm and feeling grateful that Sam was the alpha, being so alert he had changed within minutes and was now quizzing Seth mentally on what had happened.

Other wolves had phased too, but they didn't need to see what Paul was going through. Sam sent them home straight away, apologising for the inconvenience of course, Seth begrudgingly left as well. Wondering how Alex could do this to his brother?

This was different to the first time she left. They were in a relationship now, more than that even, she had accepted the imprint and Paul deserved an explanation.

Sam pushed open the door cautiously and felt instantly sorry for Paul. His house was completely trashed, the hallway mirror was shattered and other debris scattered over the floor. The noises had stopped now and the house was silent. Sam stepped over the glass careful not to get any of the smaller pieces in his foot.

As Sam entered the living room, the destruction continued but the cause of all the mess had stopped his tirade and was sat on the edge of the sofa, head in his hands shaking lightly.

"Paul?"

Sam continued forward, crouched slightly and spoke comfortingly, trying to make the young adult come to his senses and answer.

Paul didn't speak at all. When Sam came straight in front of his bent over figure, Paul raised his head and looked at his alpha. The light reflected off the moisture that had branched over his features and the alpha part of Sam instantly took over. Instantly Sam pulled his second in command into a soothing hug.

"She left Sam" Paul's voice was weak and quavered half way through the sentence with a coughing splutter through his tears, Sam held onto him tightly and almost began to sob himself.

Imprinting took the extreme form of love and having your imprint leave was something Sam couldn't even contemplate. So he stayed there, holding Paul's shaking body in the large man hug as he let out his tears and tried to stay strong.


	27. Choices

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Seven: Choices

It had been two weeks since Alex had mysteriously disappeared, everyone knew we she had gone though. Where else would she go other than Wales?

Paul was angrier than ever and instead of reverting back to his despondent self like he had when she originally left, he was done. Why should he be the one to put in all the effort? Alex couldn't split her life between Wales and La Push, she had to pick one and realise that it was one or the other.

'Would you stop talking about her?' He mentally yelled at Seth and Jacob who were talking about her disappearance yet again. 'She's gone, she's not coming back and I couldn't care less if I never saw her face again'

Pulling himself away from the others he stalked off and bounded away from them, barging a tree or two to vent the anger he couldn't release any other way.

Alex didn't know what her brain was doing, it was as though she was battling herself internally and there was no end to the fight. To say the trip home was far from a success was the biggest understatement anyone could ever describe.

Staying in Wales would be a bad decision now.

The shame and guilt she felt when she made the fatal decision of leaving La Push was even worse though. The different faces of the Quilt tribe were images she refused to even enter her head though, that would ensure Alex ran away from both the failed homes.

Whistling as she wiped away a stray tear, Alex weakly smiled as Chief's hurdling hoof prints filled her ears before the huge grey horse's frame came quickly into her sight.

Easily Alex hoped onto his back and looked at the tree formation in front of her, as cliché as it was she stroked Chief's strong neck and leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

"Iawn Prif. Chwith rydym yn aros yma yng Nghymru, ac I'r dde rydym yn mynd yn ol. Pa un?"

Without hesitation Chief launched forward, his choice making Alex take a deep sigh and pinch her nose as the horse's decision impacted her whole life.

In the forestry, the dense, green, fragrant forestry had no impact on the wolf that walked doggedly forward with no real destination. Alex filled his mind and his wolfy expression reflected the angry thoughts.

A scent suddenly pierced through the otherwise mundane foliage.

Another wolf trotted into view suddenly, shocked to see another wolf this far out of its territory it stopped, but no time was given for the two to exchange pleasantries. Furiously the original wolf launched at its opposition who put up no fight and easily allowed itself to be pinned to the floor.

'What are you doing here?' He growled out dangerously raising his lip over his threatening canines.

Alex winced at Paul's angry voice, she expected him to be this angry and didn't retaliate at all, and simply she allowed him to hold her to the floor with his large paw.

'You can't keep _doing this_' Paul snarled out as fury took over his mind.

'I'm really sorry Paul' She said quietly, 'I know I've put you through hell-'

'I don't want you here Alex' Paul stood up and backed off a few steps to allow her to get back to her feet, 'Not if you're going to keep running back and forth, from me t-_What happened?_" Frightened by Paul's more ferocious tone at the end of the sentence, Alex limped backwards slightly.

As she had gotten up, Paul noticed the slight hobble she gave as the effort took energy out of her. That wasn't right; Alex was always quick with her reactions.

'It didn't..I couldn't…I'm really sorry' She cocked out as emotion strangled her throat making the words she wanted to say refuse to leave her mouth. With a sigh Paul ducked his head and nudged his head behind him, and in silence they walked back to La Push with Alex a few paces behind her imprint.

Paul warned everyone off them as they travelled back to his house, he wanted to talk to Alex one on one and that wouldn't be possible with every wolf in La Push going ballistic over her arrival.

Once they were back in their human form and in the house, Alex held her hands together nervously as she anticipated the inquisition Paul was about to dive into.

"Alex…I can't keep doing this"

Alex said with a small sad smile, "I really am a terrible imprint but I'm gonna try"

Paul kicked his chair before turning around and having the shock of his life when he turned around to see Alex for the first time back as her usual self. The imprint connection ignited the feelings between them stronger than ever, but Paul knew that would happen, it was Alex's physical appearance that made him so shocked.

Bruises randomly rested over the skin her large t-shirt didn't cover, their yellow and purple colouring taunting him, 'You did this. You should have been protecting her' his monologue maliciously teased. Her face was the worst for him to look at, though it held the least amount of injury, but the little aggressive split on Alex's lip made Paul so upset.

Alex noticed his discomfort and slowly came forward and embraced him gently, her small arms enclosing his body in a hug. Paul responded with the gentleness as if Alex was a thin, fragile piece of glass, refusing to put any pressure on the bruises.

"What happened?" Paul snarled out dangerously when they released each other and overwhelming fury partnered the existing frustration he felt at himself.

Alex sighed and sat on the sofa lightly, she'd forgotten about the bruises – vampire venom really was a bitch at wrecking a wolf's advanced healing cells. 'Okay, time to give this whole truth thing a proper go' she thought before telling Paul exactly what happened when she went back to Wales.

"Seeing Felix again, it scared me and I knew I should have stayed and took comfort in the family I have around me. But I wanted familiarity and this whole…imprinting stuff is still new to me. I sprinted all the way back to Wales the minute I woke up, it was like auto-pilot for me" Alex risked looking up at her imprint to judge his reaction to the story she told him but he remained closed off and expressionless, nodding at her to continue.

"When I got back to Wales the pack was there waiting for me, but they didn't want to know anymore. I've always been good at hiding my thoughts from other pack members…you should know that. It gets harder when your frightened and confused, so they saw things I didn't want them to see. They saw us fighting, when Sam offered me the tattoo, when Felix came and other memories of _us_ and it didn't sit well. They flipped, if you think our boys are bad when someone messes with their temper, you should see my boys. Zeus came and helped me but by then, my dad had come back and he wasn't happy either. The pack, specifically Josh relayed the memories to him and he saw Sam offer me the tattoo, but he saw my internal monologue when I decided I should have it. So I ran. That's about the only thing I'm good at. I stopped at the edge of our territory and caught my breath but Josh managed to catch me up…" Alex hesitated and bit her lip worriedly, not missing any change in her expression Paul pulled her up on it,

"And?" He urged dangerously.

"Please don't get mad" Alex said meekly as she looked at him with eyes that begin to pool with water, "He kissed me" she stated.

Paul tensed up immediately and gripped the counter next to him in a vice grip as he tried in vain to steady his breathing. Still on the sofa wondering what to do Alex hurriedly started to narrate again,

"I pushed him off and told him to go away so he just laughed at me, so I hit him. To say he didn't appreciate it was an understatement; he held my wrists and basically made me feel like a spec of dirt before leaving. I stayed where I was for a few minutes before whistling for Chief, basically I asked him which way I should go left or right and I came back, where you found me"

Paul's breathing was still deep and ragged but Alex noticed the reduction of grip on the counter and cautiously rose. Walking over to him she gingerly put her delicate hand on his back, moving it over his skin till it got to Paul's shoulder. In a sudden change, Paul whirled around and grabbed her into a tight embrace making sure her legs were secured around his waist.

"You can't leave again"

"I'm not going to, I promise" Alex chocked out, emotionally ruined she relaxed into Paul's grip before allowing silken tears to slide down her face.


	28. A Very Big Question and Answer Session

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Eight: A Very Big Question and Answer Session 

Alex would have laughed if she didn't feel the crumple of a supposed unfeeling muscle in the centre of her chest. Once again she hated coming back into the pack she had shunned for the umpteenth time now, this time the pack wasn't as accepting of her return as they had been previous times. Like it or not, their allegiance to Paul was far stronger than to hers and she had broken his heart for his family to see first-hand.

The whole pack was standing or sitting in front of her while Alex stood centre stage and uneasily presented herself for their scrutiny. Paul was sat with the pack now, not before he rubbed her forearm trying to comfort her.

"Ok this is it, a major question and answer session" Alex said with false confidence, opening up about her life outside of La Push was not something she was ready to present to the Quileute's' but of course hiding away was no longer an option.

"And you won't lie or pass on any question?" Jacob added excitedly bouncing up and down in glee at the prospect.

'What the hell am I doing?' Alex's monologue cursed while her voice easily corresponded with a simple, "No – Anything you want to ask, now is the time" At her response the younger boys rubbed their hands together in almost unison. 'This was gonna be good' Alex swore she heard the boys excited thoughts amplified.

"Let's get this show on the road then" Leah smirked maliciously before slamming the first question out there, "Who was in your old pack and what relationship did you have with each member?"

"Jesus" Alex sighed out at the in depth question, she voiced everyone else's perplexed expressions. "I was expecting what's your favourite colour to warm thing up but okay, straight in with the heavy stuff…" She murmured before Leah's victorious expression urged her on. No way was Alex going to have Leah 'one up' her now.

"There's Josh and Zeus, you already know them. Craig who–" Alex cast a nervous glance at Paul before sighing, she may as well get this dumb question over with. "is an ex-boyfriend, my dad, Daniel, Jamie and Sarah who are all friends"

"Even after they turned you three shades of purple when you went back" The snide comment from Seth came as a shock to Alex, but what more did Alex deserve after leaving without so much as a 'bye'.

"Families make mistakes" She answered simply but avoided the young Quileute's gaze thereafter. Paul's hand had clenched – a sign that he was trying to keep composure – no doubt over her relationship with Craig. 'Stupid Leah with her stupid question' Alex growled internally when she caught Paul's fierce gaze.

"When did you get taken into the Volturi?" Jared piped up from Paul's side,

Alex winced and wordlessly moved her mouth as she tried to conjure up the sentence to narrate her _adventure _with the Volturi but nothing came out. Paul stirred from his place but Alex held up her hand for him to stay seated.

"Um…I was therefore three months before the Cullen's rescued me, I don't remember the dates" Alex said finally.

"What happened?" Sam asked maintaining his emotionless composure and steady voice.

"I was running, I usually did it every now and again to clear my head but this time I went further than usual. Crossing country borders and…I don't know what country I was in but I smelt a vampire and I decided that I could handle it."

Alex paused and took a shaky breath; she still didn't accept that people needed to know every detail of her life. Seth looked to his left and right, ensuring his brother's and sister were as captivated by Alex's story as he was. True enough all the pack members were inched forward in their seats waiting for Alex to carry on.

"It was Felix…one of the Volturi guards, he was on his own at first and we fought for a while but he was just playing with me. I wasn't strong enough and then another one came, Jane." Alex lost her train of thought for a while and then composed herself more forcefully this time.

"So apparently Aro would want to see me and I get carted off to Volterra where Aro is all jolly because I'd make a great bodyguard. He gives me to Felix as a present for finding such a nice doggy and then I would go with them. Wherever they had business." Alex finally ended and stopped looking at the floor, raising her eyes to her audience signalled the end of the story, but it wasn't as if that was the end of the interrogation.

"Why didn't you leave?" Leah said spitefully as she leant back into the sofa she was perched to delicately on.

"Because I couldn't!" Alex's patience snapped and her tone changed as she countered Leah's nasty remark with a shout. "There's not just a couple of normal leeches, living in a normal house you idiot"

"Why didn't your pack come and save you then, even if they couldn't get past the Volturi why did it take all that time for just two of your family to come and find you?" Jacob asked quietly

"Like I said, I like to run and sometimes I would stay away for a few days. Josh and Zeus were the two I'm closest to and most of the other pack members like to go off on their own every once in a while." Alex mumbled out with embarrassment, it wasn't easy trying to explain personal family dynamics, especially hers.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" Quil asked, trying to bring the atmosphere of the room up. Alex was becoming depressed incredibly quickly at facing all these demons.

"…Five" Smiling Alex elongated the word before looking to Paul who gave her a side smile when he heard the childish question.

"Including me?" Paul added, joining in the rising mood.

"Including you" She confirmed before snarling at Leah who scoffed loudly.

With one question the atmosphere plummeted below ground level,

"Ever kissed a vampire?". It was meant to be a joke but Alex's expression silenced the chuckles and her hands clenched together tightly into angry knots.

"Not by choice" She said dangerously through gritted teeth.

When Paul heard the question and its response he tensed up, but if there was ever a time to retain composure this was it, and he could see the strain Alex held in this situation so he felt only right that he be the one to end the discomfort.

"If you and Leah were in a fight, who would win?" Paul said with a smile.

"I've already answered that question with evidence as well" Laughing Alex and the rest of the pack took the humour as an end to the session, and they dispersed from the room after saying their goodbyes.

Only Leah and Seth remained stony as they exited, otherwise the family bond was ignited again between her and the Quileute's.

Alex stared after her friend with sadness,

"He hates me Paul" she choked a little, filled with emotion from the little therapy session as well as Seth's icy demeanour. Alex leant into his side when he approached and held the material of the t-shirt Paul was wearing for once.

"He'll come around, I promise"

"I highly doubt that" The grip on his shirt tightened as Alex pulled him closer still and buried her face into the soft fabric which smelt like him.


	29. Surprises

Temper, Temper: Chapter Twenty Nine: Surprises 

"Wow"

Standing in the kitchen doorway Paul leant on the wall with his mouth slightly agape while he appreciated the surprising view in front of him. There were several reasons the view surprised him:

Number one – Alex was in it. Alex _never_ woke up before Paul, they were either waking up together or he was out of bed way before him.

Number two – There was food in it.

With puffier hair than usual, Alex flicked the stray locks out of her eyes as they bloomed out with the motion of her surprise at Paul's presence. A tinge of red stained her cheeks, she shut the oven door without looking back and placed the large metal tray onto the counter before pulling off the oven glove on her hand and toying with it. A shy smile came over her face.

"Now this is a sight I thought I'd never see, fair play baby cakes I didn't have you down as a domestic goddess" Paul slickly commentated before sitting himself on the bar stool opposite the beautiful girl living with him.

"Yeah well, I thought I owed you a bit more than an apology and we already had sex so I thought breakfast would be the next best thing"

Simultaneously the two reached into the hot baking tray and juggled the hot pastries as it burned their skin before it cooled to an average heat and allowed them to take a sweet bite. The mirrored movements made Alex smile.

Paul's grin didn't falter even when he started to devour another pastry, this was a perfect start to the day. The outfit choice Alex had on didn't go unnoticed by Paul either; a simple t-shirt and underwear. But it was one of his t-shirts and he loved seeing them on her.

Despite that he couldn't help the cheeky comment that escaped him,

"I thought there was going to be tits and ass everywhere" He said, referring to her earlier comment which had stuck with him and made him smile whenever he thought of it.

Leaning on the counter Alex polished off her second pastry and smirked at her imprint before in one swift motion she had pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it like a basketball at Paul.

With that she slowly sauntered out of the room and called back to Paul with a cheery tone, "Eyes up buddy, you have work in ten minutes"

Despite making breakfast this morning, Alex wasn't one to stay at home all day, since she didn't have patrol and Paul was at work there was nothing to do. Especially since her young amigo was giving her the cold shoulder. Alex must have really upset Seth if he chose not to forgive her and give her such a hard time over this.

"This is so boring" Alex declared to the empty room before she rolled off of the sofa which she decided to sit on upside down before deciding to go for a walk.

Unusually, Alex kept her wolf alias under wraps and walked around the La Push greenery. Delicately she tip toed her own path like a ballet dancer along the forest outskirts but stopped when a small voice plucked Alex from tranquillity.

"Awix!"

"Hey Sweetie" Claire raced from her companion and straight to Alex who lifted her up easily and placed her on her hip lightly. With a huge smile Alex watched as Claire communicated in the cute childlike babble that most four year olds have mastered.

"Has mean man been back for you yet?"

It took Alex a small pause to remember that Claire would be referring to Felix who she had fortunately managed to push to the back of her head.

"He's not coming back…Now we never got to have our milkshake and burger right?"

"Enforcing healthy eating ideas then Alex?" Quil joined the pair and beamed at the toddler in Alex's arms.

"Qwil we eat chocolate _now_" With anger that made her look hysterically cute, Claire slammed her fist into the air with force.

"Nice one Alex, its eleven thirty am!" Quil reprimanded her for bringing unhealthy habits to the forefront of Claire's mind.

"Oh please pup, the speed you walk we won't get there till at least half past twelve" Alex teased before reaching out for Quil's hand as she turned her body away in the direction of the nearest burger joint. The prospect of cheesy fast food pulling her away.

Shaking his head Quil accepted the gesture and allowed the two women to pull him away with easy laughter.

It was nice spending time with Claire and Quil, not to mention the hot food was amazing and like any werewolf Alex couldn't help but wolf down – excuse the pun – her plate's contents in a quick minute. Despite that though Alex left them to it after lunch, and continued making her way across every metre of the La Push land.

The bray of a horse caught Alex's hearing when she was walking. Overcoming curiosity was never a strong point for her, so she made her way down the small dirt track she'd been travelling on and crossed the tarmac road.

Quaint buildings were a dime a dozen in La Push but the long barn which came into her sight reminded her vaguely of the one back home. Only, this was far more earthy and suited its environment perfectly rather than Mrs Gaudy's place – which echoed the owner's name perfectly. Rich oak fencing and nature's own flooring was in place here, instead of dull white stone.

To the side of the farm and its adjoining barn, a small circular wooden pen was the source of excitement as three men stood with worn out, practical clothes spectating. As Alex neared she saw a fourth man. He was in the pen itself, sharing company with a huge, brown horse that run in a frenzy of haphazard circles.

Getting closer Alex made out their conversation,

"It's no good" The fourth man said with shaky breaths as he wiped a layer of sheen off his brow with an already dirty sleeve of his denim shirt. "We won't be able to sell him like this"

"God knows we can't use it either, what paying customer would get on" The more rotund man of the group replied as he stepped away from the fence with a sigh.

"I'll get on" Alex said determinedly when she got close enough for the men to look up and take note of her presence, though they did with more humour than anything else. The smiled at her like she was a small toddler barely able to understand the words she spoke.

"Look, you're gonna shoot him or sell him for barely a penny. Either way you'll lose nothing by me trying" The plump man swung his arm in gesture of the pen as signal for her to proceed,

"Knock yourself out kid" He said mockingly,

Not even waiting for him to finish the sentence, Alex sprang over the handmade fence and smirked when another quickly spat out,

"Well that's what she's gonna do…and then bingo, insurance claims! Just what we need" The owner of the voice left then, she heard his dogged footsteps walk away from them.

"What's his name?" Alex said quietly as she confidently walked up to the horse which was now settled into the far right of the pen and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Oscar"

She started to click her tongue then, alternating between that and hushing the animal whilst reaching out her arms to get closer to him. To the men's surprise she got right up to his shoulder and stroked it firmly. As she tried to touch his face, Oscar backed up and raised his head out of the way.

Alex took a step back and put her arm over his back instead, allowing it to rest heavy so the animal felt the weight that was there.

"He's frightened" She narrated, not even bothering to turn her head to get the reaction of shock she knew was there. In a quick, fluid motion Alex moved her grip to Oscar's mane and lightly jumped onto his back. Keeping her one hand on a lock of mane, Alex moved her other arm out to keep balance.

At first the horse objected and reared up high before agitatedly walking side to side with bouncy, energy filled steps. It only lasted a few moments before he landed solidly on the ground and remained still.

"I'll be back by six with him, if I'm not I'll pay for the horse and wasting your time" The three remaining men said nothing, but the labourer swung the gate off its latch as Alex instructed.

In the instant the animal saw the escape he pelted forward with Alex still in seat, she crouched low to his back and smiled – this was something Alex really could say she was good at.

Paul greeted Alex internally as she pounded into the forest later that day, a wolfy grin on her face and positivity radiating from her figure.

'Guess what you're amazing, fabulous, stunning imprint did today?' Alex thought cheekily as she pushed her muzzle into Paul's soft fur.

When Paul responded she strut away from him, wagging her tail from side to side,

'I…got job' Alex answered before dashing away, enticing Paul to give chase.


	30. Animal Control

Temper, Temper: Chapter Thirty: Animal Control

"We need to go to the Voltu-"

Alex interrupted Emmett's statement quickly, walking away from him and holding her hair in exasperation, "No, no, never, not in a million years"

"Felix came back, he deliberately broke Aro's orders – We can have him crumpled up and burned for that!" Emmett shouted back as he held out his hand and leant forward as if that would make Alex realise his point.

Whirling around Alex furrowed her brows together, "At the risk of what? I go to Italy because the swarm of vampires like me oh so much better than one of their own guards! No we'd be laughed out of there or worse I'd end up back there. So no"

Emmett collapsed onto the sofa with extreme force. This was the first day Alex had come by to see the Cullen's after the whole incident with Felix and leaving again, apparently Emmett didn't like to forget things.

"She has a point" Edward leant on the door frame, an easy smile on his lips at the young wolf so easily making a vampire lost for words.

"Even Eddy agrees with me so there! You are wrong, I am right"

Emmett grumbled into his chest with childlike actions before he murmured out a simple, "Well I still think he should get beat, _at least_"

Alex walked over to her friend and tugged his cheek playfully only to be swatted away with a large cold hand, "Of course you do…Now! I must love you and leave you as I am on patrol in exactly-" She glanced up at the vast, undoubtedly expensive wall clock that hung in the Cullen's _living _area. "Five minutes ago – gotta run!"

With that she kissed Emmett on the cheek, exaggeratedly waved her goodbye to Edward and Esme as she caught a view of the mother vamp exiting a car whilst she tried to beat time to the border.

'Who am I on patrol with today?' Alex thought with confusion as she finally skidded to a halt after volting over the barrier's cliff edge to her own territory. She could hear no one else's thoughts and by now she would have been at least ten minutes late. Plus no other wolf had her habit of tardiness.

On the rock with the most sunlight, Alex settled herself down for the first part of her shift before a timid voice trickled into her consciousness.

'Alex?' Hearing Seth's voice made Alex spring up from her comfortable position and pick through Seth's thoughts. All she could see was a very clean looking room and hear a lot of noise coming from some other dog. A bull terrier if Alex's assumption was right.

'Seth? Where the hell are you?'

Reluctantly Seth held together the conversation after a moment's pause, 'I'm at the pound' he thought with a barely audible mutter.

'What?' Alex cocked her head to the side as she tried to make sense out of what he just said and then she realised and burst out laughing, so much so that her wolfy alias collapsed to the floor weakly. 'Oh my God! You got dog knapped!' Her words disjointedly came out as she laughed, not bothering to pay heed to Seth who was angrily shouting a background noise.

'Okay, Okay'

Taking a deep breath Alex picked herself up and trotted in his direction. Animal Control just picked up a werewolf without even knowing it. 'Probably mistook you for a German shepherd at your size' She thought.

When she reached the animal shelter Alex briskly walked in and wrinkled her nose at her surroundings, everything was far too vibrantly white for her liking, like a hospital or insane asylum.

"Hi there I'm looking for my dog" She stated with a fake smile at the colourful receptionist whose expression completely antithesized her florescent clothing.

"Breed, Size, Name?" The frown never faltered on the woman's face but the fact Seth had ventured too close to town and been abducting had put Alex in a fantastic mood – even if this was the first time she and Seth were speaking since her brief absence.

"Urgh…he looks like some form of German Shepherd on steroids" Alex nodded as she spoke before adding, "and he hasn't got a collar on"

The woman looked aghast as if this were the most offending thing she had ever heard, but never the less Alex was frog marched down the hall way and pointed to one of the larger cages that held her supernatural buddy.

"Well hey there Fido! Where did you run off to?" She greeted in a baby voice before the receptionist practically ripped a lead from another member of staff's hands and wrestled with Seth until he was wearing a shiny blue collar with matching lead.

Alex was dragged from the place by Seth. He pulled against the hideous lead but as soon as they reached further in the forest, Alex unhooked the collar from his neck, laughing as she did, tossed it aside and plummeted into her own wolf.

For a while the link between them remained silent.

'I always wanted a puppy' Alex joked, but it ignited Seth's anger so he launched at her, talking Alex to the ground and making the roll down a hill noisily hitting a tree at the end. As they separated, both of them sat and simply looked at each other.

'You left' He stated nonchalantly, 'Not for the first time' Seth added before Alex could speak.

'I know, I'm really sorry Seth but like I said, people make mistakes…families make mistakes. I'm sorry I left but I'm back now'

'Yeah, for how long?'

'Well I was thinking maybe forever, but if that's not okay with you then I'm just going to go-" Alex had turned away half way through the sentence and was walking away when Seth chirped up,

'Wait!...Who else is gonna rescue me from _animal control_' He ended dramatically, catching Alex up and butting her shoulder playfully before settling into a steady jog at her side. 'Speaking of which…can we keep all _that_ between us two?' Seth asked hopefully.

'I don't see why not kid, if I can keep mine and Paul's memories under wraps then I can certainly keep a little secret between us two'

Suddenly Alex let a rather PG-13 memory get away from her as she spoke and quickly garbled out 'Pretend you didn't see that…wouldn't want Leah thinking I'm corrupting you with my-" Alex cleared her throat and tried to impersonate Leah's nasal tone '-inappropriate, mindless, idiotic behaviour. How old are you anyway like twelve?'

'Sixteen!' Seth snapped at Alex's heels dispite the fact she was only messing with him,

'Ah that's alright then – not a complete toddler. Besides I'm sure you've seen more detailed memories from Jared, that boy needs to work on his mind control' Alex said shaking her head slightly to rid herself of that thought.


	31. A Line and A Half

Temper, Temper: Chapter Thirty One: A Line and A Half

_Prod_

_Prod_

_Prod_

As an irritating source made to poke Alex's shoulder for the fourth time, she lashed out her hand quickly and gently held the hand still.

"Stop that" She said thickly as the duvet twisted around her frame making Paul unable to see Alex's undoubtedly grumpy expression. Laughing, he held onto her hand and pulled her from the sea of blankets. With the heat gone Alex instantly latched on to Paul's warm frame, muttering her grievance as he took her down the stairs.

"It's your first day of work in case you forgot" He added as Alex moved to eat breakfast at the pace of a small slug.

"Shit!" She yelled in surprise before jumping up and running back upstairs before running down again almost instantly after a quick wardrobe change. "I have to go – Bye!" Alex narrated before reaching up for Paul's lips and pelting out of the door.

"Yeah bye bye" He responded despite Alex already having left, still smiling he turned his attention back to the hunt for today's breakfast.

Being a supernatural had its benefits, and one was the speed, Alex couldn't help but think how appropriate it was she got the gene – given the fact that her time management was far from satisfactory.

The man who was working with Oscar the day Alex volunteered to ride him was already waiting for her at the small pen, staring at the notably more calm horse.

"Morning Jack" Alex greeted pleasantly, walking up to his side and leaning on the wooden fence to get a look at the project.

When she returned Oscar after all the drama over whether he would be put down or not, Alex had been offered a job. Riding Instructor. Apparently the large barn and surrounding fields were part of a business, a riding school. It would at least give her a small flow of money and something to do. For the moment though, rather than taking up her permanent position immediately, Alex's job was to get Oscar riding ready.

"You're late" Jack said simply. His tone was nothing but sour and Alex was glad she only had to put up with him for a short while, until he gave her a tour. Then she could actually get on with some work.

"By three minutes" Alex stated before following the grouchy man towards one of the smaller buildings.

'Worst tour ever' She repeated the thought over and over as she followed her guide, studying him more than the furnishings of Oakley Farm and Riding School. Jack Green was simple enough to work out; he was average in looks, height and weight, a simple farm hand with a wife. If he didn't have such an emanating mood of 'I deserve better than this', Alex had no doubt they could get on. But self-pity is a bad trait, especially when it took over and she didn't like him.

Mr Oakley – the in charge, red faced, rotund man – was nicer. Despite being more mocking the first time they met, Oakley turned out to be a far more pleasant man who was nothing but hospitable when it came to offering her employment.

Pushing all her thoughts out of her mind, Alex gently began her work with Oscar and poured all her concentration into the work. It was nice to be focussed on something other than vampires and protecting the innocent.

After a day's hard work, Alex was dirty, sweaty and happily collapsed into the sofa as soon as she walked through the front door of the house. Paul wasn't home yet, and wouldn't be for a while, Sam him had stuck him on patrol. Normally Alex would have phased and gone to see him, but she wanted to rest for a bit first. Allowing her thoughts to run free for a minute or two.

She was enjoying life here. It was nice to be pulled back into the Quilt family again, everyone was happy, she had a job, friends, excitement and a solid relationship. A completely undisturbed few weeks was a new experience, and one which Alex gladly preferred over the drama.

Then something has to go and upset the balance.

'Undisturbed_' _Alex thought with a smile as she shut her eyes and nestled into the sofa cushions happily but then a thought crossed her mind and her eyes snapped open as her body jolted. '_Undisturbed' _

"Holy Shit" She said in disbelief before flickering her eyes to her abdomen and holding her stomach with one hand.

'No no no no no no' Tearing from the room Alex launched herself into the kitchen to get the calendar from the wall. In her haste, the calendar dislodged from its hanging place and was slammed into the table as Alex quickly ran her finger along the dates in a panic.

She was late.

'God! Everytime!' She thought angrily, 'Everytime something is right, God you just have to fuck it up don't you!' Alex accused before chewing nervously on her fingernails, 'What would Paul say?'

It was six now, he finished in half an hour then Jacob would take over, or was it Jared? Stress was now beginning to set in and fog her thoughts. Taking a deep breath she decided to go and find Paul, no way could she deal with this one her own. So with a dry mouth, Alex went off to tell her werewolf boyfriend that there was a chance she could be carrying his werewolf puppy.

Stomping into the woods, Alex easily found her way to the border, finding a tan wolf laying on a grassy mound. The animal cocked its head to the side at her presence,

"Hey Jake, do you know where Paul is please?" She asked timidly before the soft pounding of paws answered her question for her. Paul loped over to the pair and easily hoped over Jacob to get to Alex. The silver wolf also cocked his head, wondering why she was here.

"I need to talk to you…kind of important" Alex gave a humourless laugh at the end of her strained statement and Paul easily began to walk at her side away from the border and back to their house. Jacob had obviously said he'd cover until Jared and Leah took over the next shift.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked instantly when he was back to his normal self and leaning over the kitchen counter eagerly as he awaited Alex's explanation.

"I…" Alex began before nerves gripped her vocal chords, denying her speech. "I think I may be…" Nope she could not get the words to form together. Paul kept his patience and simply looked at her, urging Alex on.

"I'm late" She quickly spat out, nodding behind Paul so he could see the crumpled remains of confectionary pictures which made up their calendar.

"Holy Shit" Paul breathed out exactly the same as Alex had when the penny finally dropped, then he remained silent and motionless. She waited patiently for him to snap back to reality, but Paul never did. Gently Alex put her hand on his side, sidling up to him more when he tightly pulled her close.

"You need to do a test" Paul whispered against Alex's head before moving her out in front of him so he could see her nod a confirmation. The panic made Alex's eyes well up and a tear race down her cheek only to be firmly stopped and wiped away by Paul.

In the bathroom Alex could hear Paul's feet pacing the landing, his heavy steps making the structure beneath groan meekly. Picturing him almost made Alex smile, no doubt he would be chewing mercilessly on the tips of his fingers. The white life changing plastic in her hand made her expressionless though, opening the door for Paul to come in, Alex sat on the edge of the bath. She'd left the test at the edge of the worktop, as far away from her as possible.

Paul walked in slowly and stood in front of her, his arm preventing her from falling backwards which was perfect because Alex had no energy to keep herself upright at this time.

Her forehead met the warmth of Paul's stomach as she leaned forward. They were wordless.

Alex stared at the stupid pharmacy product, plucking it up quickly and hastily reading the back of the package it came in.

"I don't understand this!" Alex cried out, slouching her arms to the side and allowing Paul to take over the two items. "Why is it a line and a half? It should be nothing or three lines" She continued garbling before sitting back down to watch Paul try and work it out.

Suddenly Paul chucked the test and box away from him, so they clattered into a sink then, turning around with clenched fists he pounded the wall and made to leave the room. Alex caught him by the arm though.

"Paul…Paul!" She yelled as she brought him closer to her, they hugged each other tightly while Alex stroked the back of his neck comfortingly, "It's fine we'll just go and see a doctor and make sure we know what's going on okay?"

A sigh escaped her when Paul nodded his head above her, before pulling back, kissing her deeply then picking Alex right off her feet and hugging her more closely.

"Please, please don't freak out" Alex begged Paul as a scent entered her head just minutes before Paul placed it and a pale doctor easily walked around the corner, greeting them.

"Oh No! No way!" Paul yelled as he sprang off his seat in the otherwise lifeless hospital waiting room. "He isn't coming anywhere near you"

"Don't be ridiculous" Alex turned and faced the vampire, effortlessly putting on a brave face before stating, "Patient confidentiality still applies to me right?"

"Of course, the nurse has already informed me of what's going on so if you'd like to follow me…unless you'd like me to try and get another doctor out" Carlisle said with a pleasant smile, looking from Alex to Paul.

"Ye-"

"No Carlisle, you'll be fine" Alex interrupted Paul's complaints and watched him bite his lip angrily before following the pair and taking Alex's hand, to comfort himself as much as her.

"I just want to find out" Alex whispered into Paul before she was separated from him and taken into another room.

Waiting for her to walk back out of the room was torture, Paul wasn't sure how he felt about being a father – if that was the case. They were both so young though, and he knew Alex would never want to have a baby like this, with no plan or stability. Not that she would get rid of it though – That much Paul was certain.

Slowly the door opened and Alex's frame came out. She was blotchy faced and moisture covered her face but as soon as she saw Paul her face broke into a warm smile. Seeing her shake her head Paul jumped up,

"I'm not pregnant" Alex reinforced before she was lifted into a hug and then again to be tossed over his shoulder. They were both laughing lightly,

"Phew, now let's go practise not getting pregnant some more" Paul joked before rubbing his face a little as a relieved tear tried to escape his eye.


	32. He's Gone

Temper, Temper – Chapter Thirty Two: He's Gone

"Gone? What do you mean he's gone?" Alex shouted running up the whole pack which stood in a large group and joining the conversation as she listened in. Sam shook his head with a tired sigh,

"Jacob has run off because of Bella and the vamp are getting hitched" Embry explained mater of factly, filling in for the alpha who seemed at a loss for speech or action. Paul piped up angrily,

"So let's go and drag his ass back" He yelled, gesturing with his arm aggressively to the woods behind him before Alex put her hand on his arm to sooth his temper. Quil scoffed at this suggestion, making Paul's forearm clench while his hand formed a fist.

"Jake's a big boy, he can handle himself"

"He'll come back for their wedding and then there's another job for us, guarding the leech ceremony so the treaty isn't broken – Thanks a lot Black" Leah said dramatically, 'It's not like she has anything else to do' Alex countered silently.

"Do you think of anyone but yourself?" Seth spat angrily at his sister. Alex spoke before Leah could lash out a reply,

"What about Billy?" She said, stepping forward more and holding onto Paul's arm with two hands rather than one. Sam lifted his dipped head and rose to his full height,

"I'll tell Billy – the rest of you can leave. Alex, Paul – You're on patrol"

In unison on the outskirt of the group circle, both of the wolves nodded their compliance. Paul turned around first and easily shifted before looking back to wait for Alex who followed suit after a moment of thought.

'He must of travelled far by now, I can't hear him' Paul thought as he strained the mental links between pack members in vain. Alex lowered her head and thought the same before thinking,

'Yeah…Canada won't know what hit it'

Paul aimlessly loped forward before hopping onto the boundary rocks, Alex lay down on the ground as she caught up slowly and rested her muzzle over her front paws.

'I don't like this' She stated, making Paul look down at her from his sitting position. 'I have a bad feeling coming'

'Yeah well I haven't stopped getting them'

'I'm gonna go check what's going on after patrol' Alex thought offhand, she needed to go and see Alice and Emmett anyway. After an _urgent _phone call proclaiming their anger at her overdue visits, this would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Paul said nothing at first but Alex knew his hate for the leeches was something that had not changed, despite the friendship his imprint maintained with them.

'I don't like you over there' He thought plainly after a moment. In his mind wolves and vampires were enemies. That was it, black and white, no room for grey.

'Tough' Alex dismissed firmly only to see Paul's lip quiver into a light growl, showing his dislike for this conversation or where it was going.

'Well of course, you just keep up this little friendship. Don't bother thinking about anyone else' Paul huffed and collapsed lazily to the floor.

'Paul you're so dramatic' Alex responded and chuckled when her reply was a simple grouchy groan from the wolf that had decided to roll away from her and face the other direction.

'You don't just leave your pack behind' Paul's comment made Alex wince slightly, she had left _two _packs and more than once.

'Sometimes people have to do what's right for them and the situation _and-_" She grew louder when she felt Paul go to interrupt her, 'Even if that is a mistake, than making it makes you realize what you have. That's how people grow'

Silence fell over them, and it remained unbroken when Alex slowly walked towards the edge of the cliff, carefully she let her paws guide her down the path. Already on the other side of the boundary, Alex wasn't surprised when Paul had to have the last word in the conversation.

'Loyalty and team work in our species out ways everything else – We do what we do for the sake of our brothers and the people we protect' He said decidedly choosing the words carefully. It got a fiery reaction though, making Alex snort and pick up her pace to the vampires.

So Paul wanted Jacob to ignore all his feelings and pull together so everyone would be less stretched on patrol shifts. 'That's bullshit' She thought angrily, knowing she hadn't travelled far enough for her thoughts to be lost from Paul's ears.

"I told you she would be here anytime soon!" Rosalie's voice echoed out, she held onto the balcony's edge as Alex loped onto the road that circled the Cullen home.

"Couldn't wait for your wedding invite?" Edward produced a white envelope when Alex, back in human form, walked in a tipped her head to the side. Taking it, she neatly removed the seal and read the details intently.

"Congratulations" She nodded at couple, smiling as Bella moved closer to her fiancé after watching Alex's reaction to the invite off her mortal vampire to be.

"How is he?" Bella asked, craning forward expectantly. Alex flicked her eyes to Edward and then over the rest of the Cullen's, they were all looking at her.

Alex stammered a little, but recovered enough to give a simple answer,

"He's gone" She said sadly.

The vampires in the room had no major reactions, it was as if they all expected it but Bella didn't, she gasped a little and took a step back, grasping Edward's arm.

Trying to restore the happiness back into the room Alex smiled at Bella reassuringly, "Well put a pew out for me and have Alice find me a decent enough dress-"

"My taste in dresses is far greater than _decent _Alexandria" Alice interjected making Alex shudder at the use of her full name, never insult Alice's taste in fashion. At least the subject had been changed for now though.

"I wonder how wolf boy is gonna handle you going to your first vampire wedding" Emmett laughed and Alex re-read her invite again before dropping it to her side and raising her eyebrows.

"He's not very open-minded about this whole Supernatural versus Supernatural situation" Alex admitted, wondering on a scale of one to ten how Paul would react to this.

"We know" Practically everyone said simultaneously, watching Alex timidly smile and turn to leave. As she opened the door, Alex added,

"…and some decent shoes Alice"

Quickly she shut the door, preventing the television remote hitting her head and instead smacking into the wooden door frame.

"Vampire wedding eh?" She looked at the invite in her head again before jogging into the forest again, but keeping in her human form so her thoughts remained her own.


	33. Cinderella

Temper, Temper – Chapter Thirty Three: Cinderella 

"You could always come with me?" Alex urged whilst fixing her hair, watching Paul to and fro the living room as she looked in the mirror. Paul stopped his pacing and just looked at her before resuming his pace,

"You want me to put on a tuxedo and celebrate with the resident vampires?" He asked incredulously, his eyes ran over Alex when she turned around and smiled at him warmingly.

"I wouldn't want you to do anything you felt was wrong" As she answered, her hands went around his neck and as her head moved in to kiss his mouth, Paul whispered, "You look beautiful" before meeting Alex the rest of the way.

The day of the wedding was here. Things had been dormant since Jake left, everything was pleasant except for the ache the pack felt for Jacob's absence – he still wasn't home. Of course everyone knew he would show up today, even if he didn't yet know himself.

Alice had chosen Alex's dress but the vampire was taken aback as to how cooperative she was, as well as how much input she had in the end result. The dress was simple, fluid and vibrant, all green satin it hung off Alex's frame lightly, asymmetrically falling to above her knees and allowing focus to go on her plain black peep toe heels.

When they both pulled away, Alex saw in Paul's eyes there was something he wanted to say, and she had a good guess as to what it would be. "Don't Paul, don't spoil it" She stated to put a stop to the argument that would undoubtedly follow should he speak,

"You can't expect me to pretend I'm ok with you going" He said anyway.

"Yes, I do" Alex fiercely spoke as she turned away and made to leave the house, Paul held onto her arm at the last moment, keeping her in place.

"Be safe" He said firmly, capturing her lips for a second time, releasing her arm and watching as she left the house. Only then did he slam his fist into the wall with frustration. The plaster had receded back from the impact, 'She won't notice' Paul commented thoughtfully as he inspected the mark before racing out of the door and phasing.

'Time to get this show on the road' Jared greeted him.

Upholding the treaty was Sam's main goal as far as the pack was concerned and they were all on high security today, especially since Jacob would be reappearing today. The celebrations would be dampened slightly if a six foot werewolf ripped the groom's head off.

Paul sniggered at his thought and sped up, maybe he could let the defence line drop just a tad-

'Not even funny Paul' Quil said with more seriousness that Paul thought the teen could muster,

'I was joking' He said with a huff, making a special effort to block everyone else's thoughts out of his head.

Seth and Alex had gone to the wedding together, as well as Billy Black and Seth's mam but the youngest La Push residents separated from the eldest ones almost instantly, choosing their pews aside the forestry aisle.

"Do you think he'll come before or after their hitched?" Seth asked her, twiddling his thumbs before the music began, silencing Alex and Bella made her appearance, walking down the aisle slowly.

Everyone politely clapped when the two exchanged 'I do's' and Alex nodded at Seth to make his way towards the exit. Fifty present of the guests here were vampires and a vampire you don't know is worse than one you do, even if their eyes aren't crimson – Alex was alert.

"Don't look at her" She stated when Seth began to look around, she had spotted the blonde vampires pained expression and could only guess she had a connection to the Quileute wolves. Seth blatantly ignored her and looked up, seeing the vampire's pained expression he knew a friend or relative had met their end by a wolf's claw.

"Come on" Alex guided her younger brother away from the situation, "I spotted a chocolate fountain over here, and I'll be damned if it goes to waste because half the guest rather blood to food"

Nobody lifted their heads, she had spoken to quietly for anyone but Seth to hear and he laughed, Alex had a rare gift for changing the subject and uplifting people's spirits.

"Leave some for everybody else Socks!" Emmett bellowed from over the other end of the crowd, a huge grin on his face when he saw the shock and narrowed eyes which made up Alex's expression. The fact there were other supernaturals in the room was something she had forgotten, but this was Emmett so she merely waved sarcastically at him, exaggerating her smile and wave so the largest Cullen crumpled with laughter.

'Everything I do or say is funny' Alex stated mentally with a smile, 'I should be a comedian, imagine if I had done a speech tonight. Now _that_ would have been something'

Both werewolves surveyed the layout of the celebrations, talking and laughing between them as they guarded the sought after chocolate fountain and routinely dipped strawberry after strawberry in the warm sweet.

Alex raised her head then, jerking it to the left she held Seth's arm and said lowly, "Jacob's back".

In deep conversation with Bella, Seth and Alex watched as Jacob seemed nonchalant with what had happened during the day. The other wolves were there as well, waiting for him to make a mistake.

It happened then, the confused expression followed by an angry one and then he held on to Bella's arm tightly. In one second Edward was there. Seth reacted the quickest and ran out, pulling Jacob away. When he got pushed away, Alex felt her face get hot with anger and she walked doggedly over to them as well, Quil and Jared were already holding Jacob back. Sam had come forward as well now.

Alex didn't even have time to shout out an insult at Jake for being moronic before Sam had him coming back to La Push with a sour look on his face. Edward and Bella re-joined their wedding party then, at the same time as a rather pleased with himself Paul came towards her,

"What are you so smiley about?" Alex cocked an eyebrow at him to which he responded by taking her hand and leading her into the forestry, after her family and back home. "I swear there is not one event I go to that isn't filled with drama, drunks or fighting"

"You're the twenty first century Cinderella" Paul said cheekily.

"Cinderella had a pumpkin carriage not testosterone filled werewolves"

Paul's laugh echoed around the woods, making Alex's own cheeks twinge into a beaming smile. He slowed down as they neared Sam's house where the rest of the pack would be waiting, then leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"And Cinderella wasn't a werewolf herself either"

Alex smiled widely at her imprint and batted her eyelashes at him pleadingly, she didn't even have to speak her question out loud, Paul frowned at her deeply.

"I am not watching Cinderella" He stated grouchily, Alex linked arms with him and nestled into his warm side, 'He'll watch it' she thought, and there was no chance he wouldn't if Alex really wanted him to.


	34. Monstosity

Temper, Temper – Chapter Thirty Four: Monstosity

It had been roughly a week since the wedding, and everyone in the pack seemed to spend that week waiting with bated breath for the return of the abnormal couple. Jacob was obviously the first to race over to the Cullen's place and see what was going on, but none of the others knew that.

Alex was laying on the furthest grassy cliff edge of the Quileute territory when she heard the howl, it resonated throughout the trees and grass before Jacob mentally entered her head with his confused thoughts. Images of Bella, the human Bella, flickered in his mind for Alex to spectate to; she was on a sofa when the blanket covering her fell to the floor, and Bella's swollen stomach was revealed. Where whatever species a human and vampire produced together was growing inside her.

It was confusing enough if Alex were to be just seeing it on her own, but with Jake's and the rest of the pack's emotions now filtering through her, Alex found it near impossible to get her own thoughts clear.

Everyone was chasing Jacob now, trying to get him to stop so they could talk in pack formation. Alex curled her legs underneath her and sprang forward till she was a blur on the La Push scenery, everyone met on the end of the beach at near the exact same time. While everyone shouted their opinions, Alex remained silent.

'It's unnatural' Leah shouted

'Dangerous' Jared added

'Monstrosity' Alex was surprised to hear the normally placid Quil spitting out with scorn.

'An abomination' Paul added with a snarl

'On our land' Quil continued.

Everyone was getting angry now, shouting 'We can't allow it' as they circled Jake, trying to get more answers from him. Sam caught everyone's attention then,

'We have to protect the tribe, what they've bred won't be able to control it's thirst, every human will be in danger.'

Leah with her usual attitude jumped in, at the same time so did Jared,

'We're ready'

'No time to waste'

'We must destroy it before it's born' Sam said with a definite tone, Seth's shock was resonated in Alex's thoughts, and mirrored her own.

'Kill Bella?' He asked, stepping forward at Jacob's side.

Alex didn't like where this was going, and she was proven right as soon as Jacob began to question Sam, the alpha's tone took on the double tone, planning out the plan of attack tonight while countering Jake's argument.

The power of Sam's true alpha tone was felt in all the wolves, but it was strange, and Alex watched on with captivity as Jacob made his decision and fought the bonds, proclaiming his heritage and finally breaking away from the Quileute pack. As he made his choice, Alex felt his thoughts disappear and as it did, her heart plucked in an odd way. Jacob, the friendly, polite, goofball Alex had come to call brother, had left the pack. Left his family.

Seth watched as the lone wolf disappeared, Alex did as well.

'We can't kill Bella' Seth said softly,

'She's carrying vampire spawn!' Embry yelled loudly, bridling his shoulders and breathing deeply as he got more and more worked up. Seth began to pace a little, before he said firmly,

'I'm not going to kill a human'

As soon as he spoke the words, Alex felt the same pluck at her heart again and, just like Jake's, Seth's voice was lost as he mirrored steps the wolf before him took. Up the grassy, rock covered mountain and over the hill, out of La Push.

Alex trotted forward after him but stopped as she got to the bottom of the hill, craning her neck up she tried to catch a glimpse of the closest friend she'd made in the pack. Chaos was now growing, worming its way into the pack as the remaining wolves began to shout and yell out their points of view.

'We've lost the element of surprise, we can't attack tonight' Sam said with force as he bared his teeth and jumped off the pile of farmed logs and into the group. Paul and Jared began to strategize until Quil spoke up a question loudly,

'Where's Leah?' He asked

Alex searched the werewolf bonds for her temperamental enemy, but she wasn't there. Now Leah had left the pack, that was three of the pack members gone, mutinied against their own Captain. As Sam realised this he howled, loudly, the sound swarmed through the trees and rustled the ferns before it died down and Sam began to think up a whirlwind.

A whirlwind was best for describing Alex's thoughts as well as she tried to piece together what was happening. So far the pack was split, there was no way Sam could even consider attacking the Cullen home tonight, they'd be outnumbered. Could the wolves she had only just known really go through with that though? Kill a human because of the fact her child was an uncertain threat to the community.

Suddenly Paul's body lashed around as he caught on to Alex's thoughts, his jaw was right against Alex's face, growling and baring his teeth at her menacingly. Alex lowered herself to the floor with her own teeth bared, listening to Paul as he began the tirade.

'You agree with them? You want to wait until that _thing _has killed Bella itself and starts sucking everyone in town dry so you can feel better?' He asked, his temper getting the best of him. Alex remained quiet, but started to back up as the other wolves turned around and were facing her.

'It's our job to protect the people' Quil said, getting on his moral high ground for the second time during the meeting. Alex jumped forward and snapped at him,

'Bella is a person!'

Paul countered her again, snapping his own jaws together, 'But the thing inside of her is n-'

'It's a baby Paul! A baby, and you don't have the right to decide that it's a danger before you even know what it is' Alex was getting angry herself now, knowing that her opinion was the most rational, she wasn't going to be beat down. Until Sam interrupted,

'But _I do'_ The baritone was back in his voice and Alex felt her legs began to inch closer to the floor as Sam neared her. Paul barred his way though, not allowing Sam to get near her, not when his canines were bared like that.

'You're my imprint, you can't turn your back on this for the sake of a human with a death wish and the leech spawn' Paul remained firm on his argument.

'You can't expect me to fight for something I don't believe in Paul'

'I don't expect you to turn your back on your family, and on me' He quickly spat out, Alex took another step backwards until she felt the hard wood of the stack of logs barring her way hit the backs of her legs.

'I don't want to but you're giving me no choice' Alex said desperately, her voice straining as the tension was reaching the boiling point. Paul lashed forward and grabbed her neck firmly, making Alex wrench away from him and launch up the mountain herself.

'Remember who the enemy is' Alex's voice choked as she uttered the parting words, turning herself away from the silver wolf who began to make his way up the hill after her and making herself the fourth wolf to turn away from the Quileute tribe.

As she pelted for the Cullen home, the familiar pang in her heart happened, but this time it was as though an unseen hand was holding the muscle in a vice grip, squeezing and twisting it painfully. The sound of her departure was haunted by another wolf's howl, only this one made Alex's eyes water as she tripped over herself on the path, repeating over and over again,

'I've done the right thing'


	35. I Love You

Temper, Temper – Chapter Thirty Five: I Love You

Alex launched the Clingfilm wrapped sandwich straight at Leah's face when Esme had returned back to her home and Jacob had given handed out the snack to her,

"Don't be so rude!" Alex shouted, watching Leah's face curl into a snarl and marching over to collect the weapon before peeling back the film and taking a huge bite. The blow to Leah's head hit with such force that the bread had squeezed together pleasantly. "Tasty" She added after swallowing, but Jacob didn't know if she was referring to the dent in Leah's pride or the cheese and ham combination.

The small pack of his was reasonably relaxed all things considering, it made keeping the peace between Alex and Leah harder though, what with their close proximity.

"They're gonna have to hunt soon" Seth said, hoping over a wiry branch that blocked his path, and he was right. The rest of their brother had them boxed in. The Cullen's couldn't exactly go into Fork's and suck on some neck in the local diner, much less would there be a mountain lion roaming the streets.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" Jacob said sullenly, his face was pale and the expression plastered over his face was sour. Alex didn't blame him for that though, her reaction was more candid when she pictured Bella's blood slushy being glugged down for the little devil child to live off. At least he had some restraint to put a mask on.

"How could you do it to him?" Leah said at Alex suddenly. The group hushed then, Jacob and Seth rolling their shoulders forward ready to spring into action when the undoubted temper of Alex's wolf reared its head.

Alex closed her fingers, merging the layers of ham, cheese and bread blur into one savoury sheet as she thought about Leah's words. But no angry tirade came. Instead the tightness in her shoulders released, slumping forward in unison as she sighed sadly.

"I did what was right, because there was no way, on this planet I could attack the vampires in that house. If it wasn't for them, I'd still be…where I was back then" Alex said, her voice changing into a commanding, firm tone at the end.

Eagerly she marched away, grumbling out "I'm taking the next circuit", before she made the sandwich and herself, disappear from that small little circle.

She ran laps around their perimeter until the next morning, enjoying the supernatural ability of not growing tired while keeping her mind busy on protecting their small community, and keeping her mind firmly off the topic of imprinting the silver wolf she loved.

Jacob didn't account for the bridge they had to cross being so soon. The Cullen's needed to hunt before Bella gave birth, it was as simple as that, and there was only one way for the plan to go down in Jacob Black's mind.

"I want Sam to take back Leah, Seth and Alex"

Behind the two siblings, Alex kept her head ducked and avoided eye contacting with Paul. He was volatile, all his motions were jarring and aggressive.

"What about you? You have nothing to say on this?"

Alex lifted her head and felt the familiar vice grip on her chest when she saw Paul, even with the blaze of anger in his eyes. Slowly she shook her head and bit the thick of her bottom lip, making the flesh go red as blood rushed to the surface under the pressure.

After she finally looked up, Alex noticed the two new additions to the Quileute pack who were standing at Paul's side like babies waiting for their mother's hand to be held out for them. She nudged in their direction when Paul didn't unlock eyes with her,

"Sam opening up a playgroup now?"

It was meant light heartedly but the way Paul's eyebrows crumpled with his expression clearly showed he took everything she was saying and doing as an injustice against where she truly belonged, at his side in La Push.

The words that were about to come from his mouth were suddenly lost, an echo of two or more wolf howls lit up the forest, bouncing off the tress, silencing him.

A flash on confusion lit up the faces of all the shifters, apart from Jacob's – he never for one minute intended on forcing Sam to take back the three wolves. At least the Cullen's can finally hunt now. Paul was every embodiment of an angry, hostile, werewolf when the confusion faded.

"You played us!" He darkly glared at Jacob, flickering his accusing stare at Alex's face before lashing around and pelting back into the woods to be confronted with the details of what raised the wolf howls.

The puppies followed.

Hours later, Alex began to pace. The itchy feeling was back into her bones and something, her senses were screaming at her, was about to happen. Her paws began weaving and pivoting in one spot while she searched and waited for that one momentary action that would trigger this forebode situation.

It was worse that she was the furthest away when she heard it, as clear as day through Seth and Leah's mind. Bella was giving birth, now.

Lashing around, Alex curled her legs under her and ran quickly to where Seth and Leah were positioned.

'What's happening?' She mentally bellowed.

'Bella…blood…giving birth' Leah said nonchalantly, as if new species of leech offspring came into the world at the drop of a hat. She snarled and continued running, Seth and Leah were standing tensely on the hill which had the perfect view of the Cullen home. Alex strained her eyes when she got close enough to just make out Seth's sandy wolf coat.

Then as soon as she saw them, they took off. Now the Quileute's were on route, on a mission to kill Bella's baby, whatever species it was. Alice and Jasper were running from the doors when Alex got there. As if choreographed, they funnelled a line together and met their once brothers head on.

Someone had latched onto Alex's back, painfully biting her skin until she managed to flip the attacker over and hastily bite their scruff so the force of her movements sent them in the other direction.

'Puppies' Alex said mentally,

Alice was a few yards ahead of her and the site of the overly friendly vampire being pinned down by Jared's gnashing teeth made her volt over to them, pushing all of her weight into his shoulder. Before she had the chance to check if Alice was ok, another wolf had come and hastily pinned Alex down with a large paw.

Alex would be damned if she didn't recognise the large silver mass of Paul as he snarled his canines over her throat, driving his weight onto her shoulder to keep her in place. This was a fight though, there was no time to pick or choose who your opponent was. She didn't want to fight him though, in a spring like manoeuvre she managed to roll away from him and easily sprint away, directly charging into another wolf that tried to pursue Edward.

She smelt Emmett then, 'Long hunt was it?' She mentally asked him, despite the fact he was not privy to the inner monologue of a werewolf. Paul saw the muscle bound vampire as well, and easily chased him until he got kicked away. Before Alex could intervene, for which species, she didn't know, Jacob had joined the fight.

'Holy Shit' was all Alex could think when the seams of all the material pulled together and Jake's imprint was found. Sam didn't back down immediately, of course not, but eventually the black alpha turned slowly on his heel and walked back into the woods.

As the Quileute's began to file away from the Cullen's and Jacob's pack, Alex walked a little to the bottom of the hill. Flickering her gaze from Jacob's eyes to the back of the silver wolf, who was the last to leave the fight and slowly return home. Jacob lowered his head in a curt nod to her direction, understanding.

Alex mentally said her thanks before turning to the hill. All the wolves were out of her view, but with one loud, pleading bark, the silver wolf slowly edged his way back, imposingly standing tall on the brow.

At first Alex slowly made her paws walk towards him, but as she reached his level, the power in the flanks kicked in, sending her crashing into his body. Recovering, the two wolves, side by side, walked back towards La Push. Back towards their home.

When his voice came slowly trickling back into her head, there was not a moment where she had been happier to tell someone,

'I love you', and hear them repeat it back.


End file.
